After starting the show with a quick discussion on AvoidHumans.com and social location services (pointless to a small group, great in aggregate), we dove into an analysis of Amazon’s announcement of the Fire Phone. Amazon’s first entry into the flagship smartphone market is geared very much towards those already ingrained into Amazon’s ecosystem, and the phone is built to compete with the likes of the iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy line. While the hardware isn’t the best we’ve seen, it’s reasonable competitve. Our take: the phone will probably see marginal market share, but will likely outsell the Windows Phone line within the USA. Mike and Jason weren’t sold, but I said I’d consider it depending on the price and it’s eventual availability on Verizon.
Robert Morris University in Illinois is now offering eSports scholarships, specifically relating to League of Legends performance. Potential students could see up to $19,000/year (50% of tuition, room, and board). The team was conflicted on our stance on the topic, agreeing to disagree.
The show was rounded out with discussions on iFixIt’s tear-down of Microsoft’s Surface Pro 3 (nothing’s really fixable or replaceable without causing serious damage) and the arrest of 8 bloggers in Iran who were accused of having ties to enemy media and for purportedly having “plotted a soft overthrow of the Iranian regime.”
Check out the entire show by hitting play on the players at the top and bottom of this post.
Technically Speaking is your weekly source for technology news and discussion. The show airs live on Mondays at 11am, at whus.org and 91.7fm in the Storrs, CT area.
If you have technology problems or questions, leave us a voicemail at (860) 880-0119 at any time during the week. You can also email technicallyspeaking@whus.org or tweet @whustech.
Technically Speaking is produced by Drew Gates, Jason McMullan, and Mike Fagan in the studios of <http://www.whus.org>WHUS Radio at the University of Connecticut. Mike was out this week on a jaunt through Europe, and is anticipated to return for next week’s edition.