Apple CEO Disses Glass: 'The Wrist is Natural.'

Apple CEO Tim Cook defended his vision for the company Tuesday, saying Apple still has big ideas ahead of it, despite its flagging stock price and recent criticism over tax practices. In an interview with journalists Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg at the start of AllThingsD's D11 conference, Cook hinted about the company's plan to focus on items such as "wearable" technology -- think watches or glasses -- that could provide Apple with new hits. "I think wearables is incredibly interesting," he said. "It could be a profound area." Apple is widely considered to be developing a "smartwatch," with analysts speculating that it could have a 1.5- to 2-inch display, with technology similar to the iPod Nano, on sale in 2014. Cook downplayed Google's foray into the wearable computing realm, saying Google Glass eyewear would not likely find broad appeal with consumers. "I wear glasses because I have to. I don't know a lot of people who wear them because they don't have to," he said. "I think the wrist is interesting. The wrist is natural." He refused to answer specific questions about new products. But he played up designer Jony Ive's involvement in the company's new operating system for the iPhone and iPads, scheduled to be released at its developer's conference next month. He also said he has a "grand vision" for television, but declined to get into details. The comments came at the start of AllThingsD's annual confab in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif., seen as one of the most influential conferences in the technology industry. Everyone from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to Facebook's chief operating officer, Sheryl Sandberg, will speak over the next two days. (Follow continuing coverage here.) Cook mostly used the interview as a chance to emphasize the company's strengths following a combative session on Capitol Hill last week. Senators accused Apple of avoiding $9 billion in U.S. taxes; Cook said Tuesday that the tax code required more simplicity. When asked about Apple's $145 billion cash hoard, Cook said the company had already acquired nine companies in the past fiscal year, and wouldn't rule out a big purchase. He also acknowledged the company's stock price, which has fallen 21 percent over the past year. "It's been frustrating for investors and all of us," Cook said. "What we have to do is focus on products."

Google offers new 11.6-in. Samsung Chromebook for $249

Google today announced a new low-priced clamshell-style Samsung Chromebook computer for $249 that runs the Chrome OS. With an 11.6-in. display, a full-sized Chrome keyboard, overall weight of 2.5 pounds and a Samsung Exynos 5 dual-core processor, some analysts immediately called it a netbook instead of a full laptop. That netbook moniker has negative connotions that could hurt sales, analysts said. Netbooks are seen as basically focused on browsing the Internet and accessing applications and data in the cloud instead of accessing on-board apps that are used offline. The new Samsung Chromebook will ship Wi-Fi-only. "I don't see any benefit of getting a Chromebook," said Jack Gold, an analyst at J. Gold Associates. The new device "is basically a netbook with a Web-based OS on it. Why not just buy an Android device and actually be able to use plenty of apps?" Gold said that a cost-conscious buyer might find $249 attractive for the new Chromebook, especially if it runs some Google apps. "But for another $100 or so, you can get a full laptop running Windows. That's a much better deal," Gold added. Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said Google might not call the new device a netbook, a category that hasn't done well in the last year. "The light computing experience of the device in a clamshell form factor says netbook, whatever you call it," she said. Gartner has projected "small volumes for Chrome in the consumer market," Milanesi added. Eventually, Android and Chrome should merge, she said. "Consumers do not want to choose between apps and Internet; they want both," she added. "The $249 is certainly an interesting price point, but consumers have been burned with netbooks and will be cautious and look beyond the price tag." Other device makers have backed off netbooks, sometimes in favor of tablets or ultrabooks, including Lenovo in February and Dell last year. Intel said earlier this year that it would supply netbook processors as long as the processors continued selling in significant volumes. There are some avid supporters of Chrome and Chromebooks, including JR Raphael, a Computerworld blogger. who has seen the latest device and plans a full review. Raphael has evaluated earlier Chromebook models, including the Samsung Series 5 Chromebook and Samsung Series 5 550 Chromebook. Even though Raphael said the Chromebook is close to a traditional netbook, it is a fairly unique concept that has been underestimated and that "people seem to either love or hate." Chromebooks have been compared to thin clients and have been used in schools and businesses and in areas such as call centers because those organizations don't have to pay for software updates or complex set-up. "For people who already live in the cloud and mainly rely on Web-based services like Gmail, Google Docs, Google Drive, [the Chrome OS] eliminates much of the hassle of traditional computing," Raphael said. "No annoying drivers, no ridiculous OS updates, no crashes and conflicts and viruses." Google said the 11.6-in. display will have a 1366 x 768 resolution. There will be 16GB of internal storage and 2GB of RAM, with a six-hour-plus battery.

Products with faster USB speeds to reach market in 2014

Products based on a USB specification that will double the data transfer rates between host devices and peripherals will reach the market in late 2014, the USB Implementers Forum said on Thursday. The standards-setting organization is working on a new specification that will enable data transfers at a rate of 10Gbps (bits per second), which is twice the speed of the current USB 3.0 protocol. The speed boost will enable PCs to move gigabytes of data in a matter of seconds to connected peripherals such as portable hard drives. "We anticipate the specification to be finalized in July of this year and if it follows the typical path of adoption by manufacturers we should see end products by late 2014, early 2015," a spokesman for USB-IF said in an email. The new specification will be beneficial for moving video files, which are getting larger by the day with the adoption of higher pixel resolutions. The new specification will work with existing USB 3.0 ports, but will require new cables to handle the faster speeds. It is not clear yet if the specification will ultimately make its way to mobile devices. Smartphones and tablets are recharged and transfer data to external devices via the micro-USB 2.0 port, and the USB 3.0 specification is expected to reach mobile devices soon. In addition to faster data transfer speeds, the mobile USB 3.0 protocol will be able to carry more power, which will help charge mobile devices faster. Even with the new specification, USB will not match the data transfer speeds of Thunderbolt, an interconnect that was jointly developed by Intel and Apple and introduced in 2011. Intel earlier this week announced that it would boost the data transfer speeds of Thunderbolt to 20Gbps, which is twice its current speed. But USB 3.0 ports are in most computers that ship today, while Thunderbolt is in Macs and just a handful of PCs that ship. PC makers have resisted installing Thunderbolt as it is expensive, and there are few peripherals in the market. Intel sees USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as being complementary technologies.