Tag Archives: editorsletter

Editor’s Letter: Distro, shutting down…

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Editor's Letter Shutting down

There are few things more heartbreaking for an editor than turning the lights off on a publication. Unfortunately, today marks the second time I've had to perform that unrewarding task. And while I plan to make good on my promise to take what we've learned here at Distro and transfer it to Engadget at large, I'm no less disheartened to have to flip the switch.

When Tim Stevens asked me to take the reins of what was then referred to as Project X, I was skeptical. It was the summer of 2011, just over a year since the release of the first iPad, and tablet magazine publishing was largely an untested market. Sure, mainstream media was investing massive amounts of money in the space -- we're looking at you, Rupert -- but part of me couldn't shake the feeling that turning a blog into a magazine (digital or otherwise) was a step back, not a step forward.

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Editor’s Letter: Slow and steady wins the race

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter TKTKTK

In this week's Distro, we take a closer look at Apple's two new iPhones, the 5c and 5s. The 5c, despite being less impressive when it comes to features and specs, may actually be the more popular of the two models. As Myriam Joire says in her review, the pastel-hued phone is "a gorgeous handset that brings a breath of fresh air to the iPhone lineup. For many people, it might even be a better choice than the iPhone 5s." That, of course, doesn't mean the 5s isn't worth considering. In her review of Apple's new flagship model, Myriam declares it the best iPhone ever made and says that Apple "took a good product and made it better through hardware upgrades, new features and completely revamped software." If you have an iPhone 5, should you upgrade? You'll have to read the full review to find out.

Also in this week's Distro, we check in with audiophile and Head-fi.org founder Jude Mansilla. His favorite classic gadget? It's a tie between the Newton MessagePad and a portable CD player paired with a good set of headphones, which he says "started me on the journey that turned into Head-Fi.org."

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Editor’s Letter: The secret is out

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter The secret is out

This week's Distro includes our first hands-on looks at Apple's new iPhones, the 5c and 5s. And you should read them -- and check out our hands-on videos. But I'm not going to be spoiling anything by saying that we didn't find anything about the new phones very surprising. After months of speculation, leaks and rumors, Apple's iPhone event this Tuesday was something of a letdown. From the "champagne" iPhone 5s, to the phone's fingerprint reader, to the "budget" 5c series, virtually everything that was announced on Tuesday was public knowledge -- or at least well-circulated on the rumor mill -- well in advance. Unlike earlier Apple announcements, there was no "one more thing" lurking under the covers. The launch of the iPhone 5c and 5s was a by-the-numbers Apple event that could have been assembled from an Apple launch kit. Tight guest list and carefully orchestrated media buzz? Check. Black-shirted CEO? Check. Brief performance by an aging pop star? Check. Excitement and surprises? Sorry, not this time.

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Editor’s Letter: Summer? What summer?

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Summer What summer

In the US, Labor Day traditionally marks the end of the lazy days of summer, and the beginning of the busy fall season. While this summer was hardly quiet -- it included, you might recall, major product launches from the likes of Motorola, Google, LG, HTC and others -- the fall started with a bang, with Microsoft's surprise announcement on Labor Day that it was buying Nokia's devices and services division for $7 billion. The deal gets Microsoft a guaranteed hardware partner for Windows Phone, and quite possibly a new CEO, as the company has all but admitted that Nokia's Stephen Elop is first in line to replace outgoing CEO Steve Ballmer. It might also be considered a bargain. Just two years ago, Google paid over $12 billion for Motorola; that same year, Microsoft made another expensive telecom acquisition: it bought Skype for $8.5 billion.

Before we even had time to digest Microsoft's news, Apple announced -- somewhat anticlimactically -- that it would indeed have a major event next week, where the company is expected to launch an upgraded iPhone 5, as well as a lower-end model, along with lots of new colors. Meanwhile, Amazon announced an upgraded version of the Kindle Paperwhite e-book reader, and Google's Android KitKat became the first operating system with a name licensed from a candy company. And this was all before the week's real news started rolling in from IFA.

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Editor’s Letter: Color commentary

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Color commentary

There's a very good chance you're reading this on a tablet. Distro is, after all, first and foremost, a tablet magazine. There's also a reasonable chance you're reading this on a computer. Distro works on Windows 8; we have a platform-neutral PDF version; and most of what we publish in Distro also appears on Engadget. There is, however, almost no chance that you're reading this on a color e-book reader (no, not a color tablet; an e-paper reader). And that's too bad.

In this week's Distro, Sean Buckley tells the story of color e-paper, a once-promising technology that simply couldn't make it in a tablet-centric world. Despite years of development work and the tantalizing promise of high-resolution, daylight-readable, low-power displays, color e-paper was rendered an also-ran once the iPad began gaining popularity and low-cost Android tablets followed suit. Major e-reader makers including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Kobo, all released their own color tablets -- at prices below their $300-plus color e-ink competitors. That strategy wasn't without its fallout; B&N eventually got out of the tablet market, and Kobo continues to struggle to gain market share in the US. But color e-book readers fared even more poorly, and color e-paper's future is now tied to other devices, such as smartwatches.

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Editor’s Letter: Back to school

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Back to school

There was a time when gearing up to go back to school meant little more than picking up a new backpack, some clothes and the latest HP calculator. Those days, of course, are long gone, and even fifth-graders can expect to start the school year with a new smartphone and laptop.

In this issue of Distro, Engadget's annual back to school guide presents our latest recommendations for everything from tablets to TVs to gaming gear. And if you're a US resident over 18 (sorry fifth-graders), there's still time to enter our Back to School sweepstakes, where we're giving away tons of great gadgets, including laptops, e-readers and smartphones.

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Editor’s Letter: Is Hyperloop loopy, or the future of public transportation?

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Is Hyperloop loopy, or the future of public transportation

If you can say one thing about Elon Musk, the billionaire founder of Tesla Motors, it's that he thinks big. After making his fortune by selling his online payments company to PayPal, he's focused on creating entirely new industries, including commercial rocketry and electric cars. His latest idea, the Hyperloop, could eclipse both of those, at least in creative vision. The high-speed transportation system is basically a modern take on the pneumatic tube, and could potentially hurl travelers from Los Angeles to San Francisco at over 700 miles per hour, bridging the two cities in just about a half-hour. The cost to taxpayers: a mere $6 billion.

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Editor’s Letter: Will LG get lucky with the G2?

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In each issue of Distro, Executive Editor Marc Perton publishes a wrap-up of the week in news.

DNP Editor's Letter Will LG get lucky with the G2

It wasn't long ago that the electronics divisions of Samsung and Lucky-Goldstar, two massive Korean conglomerates, played second fiddle to Japanese competitors like Sony and Panasonic.

Today, of course, Samsung is a leading manufacturer of everything from tablets to TVs, while Sony makes most of its money by selling life insurance. The renamed LG, meanwhile, continues to battle Samsung on the international stage. In the cellphone industry, for example, LG ranks fourth, behind Apple, Nokia and market-leader Samsung. In TVs, LG ranks second, behind, yes, first-place Samsung.

LG's latest salvo, fired this week, comes in the form of the G2, a flagship smartphone that left our Sarah Silbert impressed during her brief time with it. Boasting a 13-megapixel camera that can potentially hold its own against the shooters in the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S 4, and a range of new features like Answer Me, which lets the phone automatically connect to incoming calls when held to your ear, the G2 could be, in Sarah's words, "a compelling flagship."

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Editor’s Letter: Made in the USA… sort of

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DNP Editor's Letter Made in the USA Sort of

Motorola has been doing its best to build some buzz around the Moto X, which launched this week. As a smartphone, the X is decidedly middle-of-the-road. It boasts specs and a design similar to the Droid models Motorola announced last week. Available later this month at $199 on-contract from most major US carriers, the X's biggest claim to fame -- other than swappable backplates, including one made of wood -- is the fact that it's assembled in the US, in a 500,000-square-foot factory in Fort Worth, Texas. Yes, that's "assembled." Despite widespread reports that the X is being made in the US, most of its components, from its display to those backplates, are produced in factories around the world, and workers in Texas will assemble the phones.

Does it really matter where your smartphone is made? If your main concern is domestic job creation, it might. A 2012 survey by Boston Consulting Group found that over 80 percent of Americans are willing to pay more for products that are made in the US instead of China, mainly because they want to keep jobs in the country. Interestingly, the same survey found that 60 percent of Chinese consumers would pay a premium for US-made products, apparently based on the belief that the US produces higher-quality products. When it comes to smartphones, that's an idea that's difficult to put to the test; there are none currently manufactured in the United States, and that's not about to change with the launch of the X.

Gallery: Motorola Moto X preview

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