Announcing Need

It's my honor to announce my upcoming startup, Need. 

The announcement should probably be primarily classified as a teaser, but I'm nonetheless thrilled to finally (somewhat) acknowledge what I've been working on for the past six months.

In essence, Need is a hybrid between a men's lifestyle retailer and publication. It'll be launching in the second-half of 2013 and we'll have some genuinely amazing  people on board. We're working with both independent creators, writers, photographers, as well as some of the US' top large-scale brands and creative firms.

For some hints about the initial faces, creators, and aesthetics we'll be moving toward, I suspect my friends at WELD would be a good place to start. 

Today, on the business side of things, we have the former President of Gilt Groupe (currently the CEO of Travelocity), the head of Startup America and Dallas' upcoming DEC, one of the country's top startup lawyers, and an amazingly well-decorated group of investors. 

Finally, we'd be nowhere without our phenomenal developers and branding team, Mobelux. I cannot even begin to articulate the breadth of work they've done for this project. 

To hear a little more, you can read Venista Ventures' announcement release. 

You can also sign-up for more information, early access, and some great deals at Need. You can also follow @needlifestyleco on Twitter. 

We've purposefully kept identifying details and specifics scarce, but I'm more than willing to chat with any of you individually over the coming months should you wish to hear more. Feel free to email, mention/DM on Twitter, and so on.

Need is the product of some of my deepest passions and interests. It's borne out of the essence of my personality and it extends my desire to support creators, writers, and cultural forces into a truly actionable and exciting platform.

I cannot wait to share more with you. 

Snapchat 5.0

Jordan Crook, TechCrunch: 

Snapchat, the app that lets you send pics and videos that self-destruct, has just released a huge update to version 5.0 “Banquo” (I’ll get to that in a minute), which includes a dramatic revamp of the app’s UI.

The update also brings with it a few new features, like the ability to double-tap to reply, in-app profiles, and better tools for adding friends.

The UI is finally worthy of its growing user base, with swipe navigation leading you from the camera, your inbox, your friends, and a way to add new friends or search for users. The inbox is oddly unchanged, though the camera panel is much more beautiful, doing away with all the blue bubblies and going for something a bit more transparent.

Speaking of mobile photography, Snapchat released an enormous update — version 5.0 — last night. 

Although I frequently joke about Snapchat on Twitter, it's actually an extremely enjoyable app to use. The latest update removes a lot of design flaws that were poisonous to the UI and usage of the app, replacing them with a fun, clean, and modern aesthetic. 

In other words, the 5.0 update achieves what all apps should with large updates: it encourages me to re-engage and actively seek to use it more frequently. 

Snapchat doesn't seem to have gained much traction in the core technology community, but, outside of it, I rarely come across a friend who hasn't used it on a regular basis. From fleeting shots of lunch to videos sharing concert experiences, Snapchat has quickly found its way into my daily life in a truly good  way.

Unlike Vine — an app I continue to struggle to find a place for in my social life — Snapchat simply makes sense. Even Jack Dorsey took to Twitter to endorse the re-design last night. 

If you haven't experimented with the app yet, I urge you to do so. It's a lot of fun and lacks the self-inflicted seriousness of a great many other social apps. 

You simply send photos and videos back and forth with little other thought, thereby creating an environment in which you need not worry about the filters layered over your experiences, but simply just focus on sharing the experience in their rawest possible form. It's definably mobile, contemporary, and inconsequential — not just an app for sexting after all.

Perhaps most importantly, with the rise of Snapchat there's been a marked drop in inane photos of food on Instagram. Instead, such pointless pieces of ephemera have graduated into an app built exclusively for such shared moments. And that's an utterly welcome development.

Snapchat 5.0 is available freely from the App Store. 

VSCO Cam

VSCO: 

The new VSCO Cam™ represents major advancements in mobile photography image processing. Taking what we’ve learned from VSCO Film™, we've achieved results previously unattainable on an iPhone.

And best of all, it's free.

Although free, VSCO Cam™ is fully-functional and well-equipped with top quality presets and tools needed to create beautiful images. The new app does include an in-app store, where you can download additional VSCO Preset packs tailored for specific situations and aesthetics. This new, free VSCO Cam™ is a significant upgrade from the original, paid VSCO Cam™.

VSCO Cam — the best iOS camera app — has undergone a rather significant and long-awaited update today.

Available freely from the App Store, the new VSCO Cam sports an in-app store, a brand new interface, and integration with VSCO's upcoming Grid service.

It's also worth noting that, for a limited time, all of VSCO Cam's filters are available as a single in-app-purchase for $5.99 (down from $16) — an instant purchase for me.

I'm a huge fan of VSCO — both for the app and their film packs — and am absolutely thrilled with this release. 

VSCO Cam is available freely from the App Store. 

WWDC Expectations

Last year, I wrote an article for The Loop in which I argued against the frustrating proliferation of rumor and the associative problem of expectations surrounding large-scale press events. Considering we're a week away from 2013's WWDC keynote, I thought it might be worth revisiting:

Next week, Apple will announce a great many things and, as is customary, technology enthusiasts across the world will emit self-entitled gasps of disappointment. Regardless of the most dazzling of improvements, there will be a rumor each individual has dearly held to their chest that has been “forgotten” by Apple. For the crime of an incorrect assumption on the part of the media, Apple will suffer a cascade of scorn and underwhelmed disenchantment.

In the final days leading up to the event — amidst the rising clamor of desperate, ill-informed expectations — it has sadly become too much to ask for a moment of respite. Even knowing that they carry themselves toward disappointment, these onlookers do so willingly and happily — blissfully oblivious to the implications and effects of their disproportioned expectations. Meanwhile, journalists are clattering away at their keyboards fueling the fire, and readying themselves to half-heartedly address the true nature of the competitive landscape when all has been revealed.

We are victims of our own insatiable consumerism, but the situation is woefully exacerbated by the self-entitled cries of the gullible and misinformed. With even the slightest semblance of contextual awareness, unreasonable negativity can be dismantled. Taking the most incidental of moments to pause and consider, the media can refrain from inciting such blind, impassioned ignorance.

Considering the rumors regarding a potential "flattening" of iOS, expectations are outrageously high this year. And I, for one, am not even remotely looking forward to the predictably negative response the design will prematurely endure.

I plan to follow the keynote — as I did last year — amongst friends and colleagues in San Francisco. If you're going to be in attendance, please do let me know.

Bionic's 5by5 Facelift

Courtesy of the inimitable designer, Mr. Jory Raphael.

Follow along with Bionic on 5by5.

Boring

Tom Warren, The Verge:

This approach of recognizing where Windows 8 needs improvement really underlines Windows 8.1. It's not so much an update with some stand out features and big name changes, but more of a refinement of the existing operating system. All of these minor changes add up to big improvements in the way you can use Windows 8.1 across touch and keyboard / mouse. Microsoft has had time to sit back and witness the reaction to Windows 8 and see exactly how people are using the product. With Windows 8.1 we're seeing very real changes based on that.

"We really have a great sense of where we got the details of these bets right and where we actually maybe missed a little bit," admits Microsoft's Antoine Leblond, who oversees Windows Web Services. The good thing is that Microsoft is correcting some misses after just months on the market, and it's coming as a free update for existing Windows 8 users. If Microsoft can keep this rapid pace of improvement for Windows then it has a real chance of challenging others in the tablet market, providing even more touch-friendly apps are made available. The PC is in decline and tablets are taking over consumer spending, so Microsoft and its OEMs have to ensure tablet offerings are solid.

For those who were reading OneThirtySeven last year, you'll remember a lengthy period during which I was outrageously excited for Windows 8. Although I joined a great many with decrying the ill-advised "no compromises" mantra, I still held a great deal of optimism for the revival of an otherwise uninspired piece of software.

Today, I feel virtually no enthusiasm whatsoever.

Of course the design is interesting and I'll pay close attention to the Surface's second iteration, but, otherwise, I simply have no reason to care.

The core problem is that Windows 8 promised to be an audacious and disruptive entity in the marketplace. And yet, for virtually every facet of thoughtful experimentation, it was obvious that a businessman had offset the value of a disruptive idealist.

When Apple first introduced OS X, it was riddled with problems. The design was new, software was unstable, and it lacked developer support. But Apple held true to its guns. Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to be strangled by the tension between volatile idealists and dull pragmatists.

Several days ago, John Moltz shared a thought regarding Windows 8:

This could be a transitional phase. We Mac users didn’t immediately stop using all Classic applications when we switched to OS X, either. I wonder, though, based on current reports of Microsoft retooling Windows 8.1 to make it less “Modern” (which is apparently the new name for “Metro”), if they have the stomach to see it through.

This is precisely why I can no longer muster sincere excitement for the operating system. Touting the return of the Start Button and watching comments threads ignite with enthusiasm is outrageously discouraging.

Microsoft was bidding for something grand and different, but it hamstrung itself with a lack of confidence.

Google Glass, albeit in alpha form, has not shied away from its identity as an agent of controversy. The reason is because controversy is a characteristic of a disruptive technology. No one should feel immediately warm and fuzzy about a piece of technology destined to change the way we interact with the world.

Google and Apple have both owned their controversial and revolutionary promise as elements of their marketing. Microsoft, however, is clearly torn. They have bold, colorful advertising touting a revolutionary new technology, but they betray the technology with a lack of character strength.

Perhaps Microsoft can right the ship. This update certainly promises to — in Warren's words — "right Windows 8's wrongs." In doing so, perhaps it can even regain some users it may've alienated with Windows 8. Those are certainly not bad things in a traditional sense. But without the fortitude to contribute something truly new and useful for its customers, then how could I possibly consider myself a serious proponent?

The narrative of Windows 8 and its successors is not supposed to be about re-introducing removed features and tweaking minor nuisances. It's supposed to be about re-defining the way we engage with our personal devices. And with the tweaks and regressions of 8.1, I just simply cannot see how they intend to tell that story any longer. It's disingenuous.

And, more importantly, it's a shame.

Are We Ready for Glass?

Dustin Curtis:

All fashion issues aside–and there are many, of course, because the device looks kind of ridiculous to the uninitiated–it is extremely unnerving to be conversing with someone who has a camera and microphone on their face, pointed directly at you, with the ability to record. In the presence of someone wearing Glass, you can never have privacy. I had anticipated a feeling of uneasiness, but after experiencing it, I was surprised by how much it bothered me on a visceral level.

I haven't yet fully formed my thoughts on Glass as a product, but if anything ends up preventing the form factor from working, I think it will be from these kinds of social issues. Unfortunately, there are few practical design solutions to the problems short of changing fundamental aspects of how such devices work.

As of late, Dustin Curtis has adopted an extremely even-handed view of Google. Thus, when he shared his thoughts regarding Google Glass, my interest was immediately piqued.

And yet, reading through his thoughts, there's little in the way of revelatory information regarding the experiential nature of the device. He writes of some of the odd nuances of using Glass, his admiration for Google's experimentation, and the obvious social problems inherent within the wearable category — notions which've been widely echoed within the Glass-toting developer and journalist community.

Adding context to this, however, are Tim Cook's D11 comments concerning the category:

“I think there are some positive points in the product,” Cook said. “I think it’s probably more likely to appeal to certain vertical markets. … I wear glasses because I have to. I don’t know a lot of people that wear them that don’t have to. They want them to be light and unobtrusive and reflect their fashion. … I think from a mainstream point of view [glasses as wearable computing devices] are difficult to see. I think the wrist is interesting. The wrist is natural.”

Cook's comments — which were obviously well-rehearsed and outrageously guarded — serve as an apt summary of the widespread reception of Google Glass. That is, all reasonable people recognize the promise and disruptive potential of Glass as a technology, but simply cannot imagine wearing such a device as a layer between social interactions.

I do believe we'll one day arrive at a point at which HUD-esque interactions are standard, but I echo the sentiment that it might be difficult to jump right into this paradigm from the start.

Consider, for example, the venerable tablet computer. The iPad was certainly not a new concept, but rather a well-design revisit to well-trodden territory. Microsoft had been pushing tablet computing through for a decade prior to the iPad's introduction, but the world was just not receptive to such early incarnations. The technology was awkward and ill-fitting and it took a long time to outgrow these sentiments.

In the years leading up to the iPad — the time during which Microsoft continued to push outmoded tablet technology — Apple released the iPhone. It was a device steeped in obviousness for even the most technology illiterate person — a device which paved the way toward a larger computing equivalent of the device.

I suspect that, if Apple does introduce a wrist-worn device over the next twelve months, we'll witness a similar trajectory. It'll integrate Nike+ technology and consolidate fitness tracking into one, well-considered device, whilst offering many obvious advantages to the consumer. And it'll serve as an apt stepping stone into the world of wearable computing for the years to come.

(Incidentally, Matthew Panzarino wrote a wonderful piece making a similar argument several weeks ago.)

That's not to say Google Glass is a poor piece of technology. Quite the contrary, actually. I consider Glass to be one of the most important and ambitious projects in our industry today, but I simply wonder whether the world is ready for such a device at this stage? I'd like to think so, but it would seem my views are outweighed by a great many.

We're facing a fascinating twelve month window in which that question might be asked by a great many manufacturers. Most importantly, however, we'll see Google pursue the question in earnest and, from the sound of things, Apple might join the conversation, too.

Moto X Coming by October, Creating 2,000 Jobs in Fort Worth

Joanna Stern, ABC News:

During an interview at the All Things D conference, CEO of Motorola Dennis Woodside revealed the company's plans for the long-rumored "Moto X" phone, which will have a OLED screen and will be released later this summer. Woodside wouldn't detail any other specifications of the phone, but said that it will have long battery life and that sensors on it will allow it to know when you are using it.

The phone will be made at Flextronics' 500,000-square foot facility in Fort Worth, Texas, which was once used to make Nokia phones. While the phone will be designed, engineered and assembled in the U.S., not all the components in the phone will be made in the U.S. The processor and screen, for example, will be made overseas.

Although it's encouraging to see Motorola creating its latest phone in the United States — particularly as someone living in the Dallas-Fort Worth area — the positive lens through which this is being framed is rather disingenuous.

The so-called "Moto X" device has been in development for well over a year and it most certainly has not been creating jobs throughout this time. Advertising and marketing campaigns have been developed and scrapped, designs have been repeatedly revised, and strategies have been in constant flux.

Whatever has been barring Motorola's push toward the market has cost a great many people their jobs en route.

I obviously understand the need to frame the forthcoming device with an aura of positivity, but the rambling story of the first Motorola phone under Google's ownership is a colossal narrative to cover with a crass sentiment of patriotism. And I personally do not buy it.

Nevertheless, however, I am hopeful the 'Moto X' will contribute something genuinely good to the Android ecosystem. Woodside's comments do, in fact, point toward quite an innovative device, indeed. But having heard worrisome whispers about the development of this device for a seemingly interminable volume of time, my expectations have been set accordingly.

"Backflip Over a Cow"

Myke Hurley:

This week Matt and Myke talk about LG and the future of Nexus devices, HTC's current problems, Yahoo! potentially buying Hulu and the Nokia Lumia 520.

Returning from a long weekend, Myke and I had a lot of fun on this week's episode of Bionic.

We discussed the possible future of Google's Nexus line — our thoughts stirred by the recent release of a stock Galaxy S 4 and a white Nexus 4 — and pondered whether or not we might be witnessing the beginning of our oft-discussed "Nexus Certification Program."

Delving into the rumor of a stock HTC One, we also spared a moment to discuss the apparent problems within HTC's executive line-up, the forced delay of the HTC First in Europe, and what the company might do next.

We touched on the potential $800 million acquisition of Hulu — a company which has been sought after unsuccessfully by many suitors in recent years. And, once again, I gushed without restraint about Marissa Mayer.

Finally, we spoke about Myke's newly acquired Lumia 520 and his initial thoughts regarding the device and the Windows Phone ecosystem.

Also, somewhere within all of this, I managed to discuss the physics of backflipping over a cow (and handstanding on a horse). As you'd expect.

Bionic 44 is available, as always, from 5by5.

The Value of the Tumblr Acquisition

Marissa Mayer:

I’m delighted to announce that we’ve reached an agreement to acquire Tumblr! 

We promise not to screw it up.  Tumblr is incredibly special and has a great thing going.  We will operate Tumblr independently.  David Karp will remain CEO.  The product roadmap, their team, their wit and irreverence will all remain the same as will their mission to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve.  Yahoo! will help Tumblr get even better, faster.

Since news seeped out regarding Yahoo's potential Tumblr acquisition last week, there's been a constant thread of discourse on Twitter. Onlookers have been repeatedly noting that, firstly, Tumblr is not a revenue driver and, secondly, this is a cash deal.

The implication of these tandem points is that Yahoo requires a business to increase its revenues, whilst also highlighting the lack of leverage Yahoo has in such negotiations.

Overlooking the former point for a moment, I think it's interesting to consider Yahoo's lack of potency and leverage. The company has depleted its social value and has become largely irrelevant for an enormous swath of Internet users over the past decade. The company has repeatedly purchased popular startups (e.g., Geocities, Flickr, etc.) and has always failed to capitalize on them.

Importantly, however, all of these failings were committed without Marissa Mayer at the helm.

Mayer was brought on board to rescue Yahoo from a virtually inescapable abyss of pointlessness. Obviously that's an extremely difficult task — one that will likely take several years to come to fruition — but I've found her stewardship of the company to be outrageously encouraging over the past ten months.

Looking over her time with Yahoo, we've already witnessed Mayer infuse much-needed life into Flickr, ban remote working, acquire Summly, and purchase Tumblr. Reviving Flickr and banning remote working are utterly steeped in pragmatic business, as Mayer requires the support of the Internet-faring users of Flickr and needed a convenient way to trim her workforce whilst also increasing worker activity. Summly and Tumblr, however, pose less obvious advantages.

Personally, I laughed when Summly was acquired. The company was run by a young man known for his immaturity, the technology was licensed from another firm, and the actual service was largely unused.

And yet, viewing the acquisition through post-Tumblr, I suddenly understand much of what Mayer intended.

Summly garnered headlines all around the world due to the CEO's age. Yahoo became a name associated with enabling and facilitating youthful innovation and entrepreneurship. And, today, with the Tumblr acquisition, that reputation is only further grounded.

Tumblr may not drive revenue (today), but it'll increase Yahoo's traffic by an enormous multiplier. Tumblr may not be directly rebranded as a Yahoo property, but it'll increase the brand-value and mindshare of Yahoo exponentially. And Tumblr may not be the blogging platform of choice for professionals, but it's veritably filled with young, taste-making people.

Mayer's stewardship may've been costly and some elements may've been controversial, but we've not discussed Yahoo this much in a decade. The company has not come to mind as a point of fascination or relevance in such a long time. And that's hugely significant.

Perhaps Yahoo's cash reserves are depleted, but we're now seriously discussing a Yahoo comeback. And if there's ever been a good cause for spending a cash reserve as a failing company, I suspect such acquisitions and business decisions would rank very highly, indeed.

Increasing revenue and value for shareholders is the primary goal of any CEO. Although Mayer has not yet done this in an obvious or direct manner, I genuinely believe she has set out the groundwork for a resurgent Yahoo for the next decade.

I cannot wait to see what Mayer does next. And that's utterly indicative of quite how successful she's been as CEO at Yahoo.