Stewart Wolpin

Happy 100th Birthday, Consumer Technology Business

Posted on 4 December 2020 by Stewart Wolpin

Celebrating the 100th birthday of the consumer technology industry with the story behind how and why our business came to be and of those responsible for creating it, in five parts:

Part 1: The Wireless Age

Part 2: A National Priority

Part 3: A Pittsburgh Radio Sensation

Part 4: The Birth of a Business

Part 5: “When The Public Is Ready For Mass Demand”

Posted in Tech History, TWICE | Tagged 1920, Consumer electronics, consumer technology, Consumer Technology Association, CTA, history, KDKA, Pittsburgh, radio, RCA, tech history, Westinghouse, WIRELESS | Leave a comment

How the Consumer Technology Industry Was Born

Posted on 1 December 2020 by Stewart Wolpin

What we now call the consumer technology industry was born November 30, 1920, when the first consumer electronics product, the two-piece RA-DA, the first commercially produced radio designed for the mass market, rolled off the Westinghouse assembly line in East Pittsburgh. After a two-year period of hectic technological, business and legislative/regulatory developments following the end of World War I, the Westinghouse RA-DA and the entire radio industry emerged, becoming the dominant consumer technology product for three decades. On the centennial of our industry, let’s take a look at the events of 1919-1920 that cleared the way for the future.

Part 1: The Day Radio Died

Part 2: How the Consumer Technology Industry Was Almost Never Born

Part 3: How President Wilson Shaped the Airways

Part 4: Happy 100th Birthday To The Consumer Technology Industry

Posted in Tech History | Tagged Alexanderson Alternator, consumer technology, Consumer Technology Association, GE, General Electric, Owen D. Young, radio, RCA, tech history, technology retailer, U.S. Navy, Westinghouse | Leave a comment

What To Expect At CES 2022

Posted on 22 November 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

New Exhibit Hall, New Keynoters, New Transportation, New Covid Measures, New Virtual Connectivity – and New Product Categories – To Be Featured

Read this report here at TWICE.com .

Posted in CES, TWICE | Tagged Abbott Pharmaceuticals, CES, CES 2022, CTA, Elon Musk, Eureka Park, Ford, GM, Las Vegas, Loop, LVCC, McDonalds, Peloton, Sierra Nevada, SpaceMap, T-Mobile, Venetian Expo, Waymo | Leave a comment

CTA: Expect Robust Q4, $500b In U.S. Tech Sales in 2022

Posted on 16 November 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Despite chip shortages, supply chain problems, and staffing issues, demand and sales for consumer tech – especially WFH and home entertainment devices – has and will remain high through the holiday season and next year.

Read this report here at TWICE.com.

Posted in ear/headphones, home office, smart home, TV/4K/UHD/8K, TWICE | Tagged 5G, Apple AirPods, chip shortage, COVID-19, CTA, e-bikes, Samsung Galaxy Buds, smartphones, supply chain, true wireless | Leave a comment

CTA Inducts 2020, 2021 Hall Of Fame Classes

Posted on 15 November 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

After missing a year because of the pandemic, CTA inducted its 2020 and 2021 Hall of Fame classes at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York, along with its last two sets of Innovation Award winners.

Read the rest of this report – and who’s who in the photo – here at TWICE.com.

Posted in Tech History, TWICE | Tagged BioIntelliSense, Cerf, CTA, Hall of Fame, HDTV, Kahn, KDKA, Nuheara, Nuro, Panasonic, Re:3D, ROYBI, Sierra Online, Sony, TouchPoint Solution, true wireless, Ultimate Electronics, Westinghouse | Leave a comment

Review of the Eargo 5

Posted on 21 October 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Over the years, I’ve tested a variety of over-the-counter hearing assistive devices, some actual FDA-approved hearing aids, others so-called personal sound amplification products (PSAP). Until recently, I believed the best relatively low-cost non-prescription over-the-counter hearing aid available was Eargo’s Neo HiFi, which I reviewed 18 months ago. That is until I tested the Neo HiFi’s replacement, the Eargo 5, the fifth-generation hearing aid from the company.

Posted in ear/headphones, Techlicious | Tagged audiologist, Eargo, hearing aid, hearing assist | Leave a comment

The Best New iOS 15 Features

Posted on 24 September 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Under normal circumstances, I’d advise waiting before downloading Apple’s latest operating system until after its first update – there’s always something that goes a little bit haywire in the first release that needs patching. But there haven’t been any reports of problems with the first release of iOS 15, so feel free to dive right in.

Read the rest of this report at Techlicious.com here.

Posted in Apple, cell/smartphones, Techlicious | Tagged Apple, FaceTime, iMessage, iOS, iOS 15, iPhone, Notes, Siri, Translate | Leave a comment

10 Reasons to Upgrade to iPhone 13 (and 5 Reasons Not to Bother)

Posted on 19 September 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Once more, iPhone owners face their annual dilemma: to upgrade or not to upgrade to one of this year’s four new iPhone 13 models – the Pro Max (starting at $1,099), the Pro ($999), the plain iPhone 13 ($799), or the Mini ($699). While there’s no one must-have feature that will drive you to upgrade, there are ten good reasons to consider upgrading to an iPhone 13 from your current iPhone, even an iPhone 12. There are also five reasons NOT to trade up to an iPhone 13 and just wait a year until the iPhone 14 is announced.

Rear the rest of this report at Techlicious.com here.

Posted in Apple, cell/smartphones, Techlicious | Tagged 120Hz, 5G, A15 Bionic, Apple, Cinema Mode, iPhone, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 14, Touch ID | Leave a comment

Your 2025 Smartphone

Posted on 19 August 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

With apologies to Zager and Evans (look ’em up), in 2025, I will surely be supremely embarrassed. Someone—maybe even me—will dig up this column, read my fearless predictions of what smartphones will look like and how they will function in that year, and find them to be (hysterically) wrong. Or—maybe I’ll be hailed a genius, a modern Nostradamus sans quatrains. Who knows? Regardless, here goes nothing.

Read the rest of this prognostication here at Digital Tech Consulting.

Posted in Apple, cell/smartphones, Digital Tech Consulting | Tagged 5G, 6G, AMOLED, Apple, cellular, foldable, iPhone, Samsung, satellite, Zager and Evans | Leave a comment

Can/Should the Internet Be Regulated?

Posted on 12 June 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Trolling. Phishing. Online scams. Dark web. Identity theft. Click bait. Ransomware. Spyware. Adware. Malware. Cyber attacks. Zero day attacks. Trojan horses. User data tracking, collection and selling. Algorithm amplification and manipulation. Election hacking. Deep fakes. Anonymity.

The growing misuse and outright lawlessness of the internet makes the wild west look like an unruly kindergarten class.

But what to do?

Read the rest of this rumination here at Digital Technology Consulting’s Weekly Riff.

Posted in Digital Tech Consulting, Internet/Social Media | Tagged ESRB, Facebook, First Amendment, Hays Code, Mark Zuckerberg, MPAA, Section 230, Telecommunications Act, Twitter, YouTube | Leave a comment

Face-Off: Noise-Canceling True Wireless Earbuds

Posted on 9 June 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

What the world needs now is active noise-canceling (ANC) true wireless earbuds. ANC buds meet the needs of the moment by providing a way to boost audio quality during Zoom calls while simultaneously isolating us against intrusive environmental factors (remote-schooled kids, other work-from-home adults, etc.). And fortunately for us all, they are getting better-sounding, more feature-packed, and less expensive.

Read the rest of this review roundup here at Sound & Vision.

Posted in ear/headphones, Sound & Vision | Tagged Ausounds, Bluetooth, Bose, Bose QC, ear buds, Earfun, Edifier, Jabra, JBL, JVC, QuietComfort, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy, Tribit, true wireless | Leave a comment

11 New Features that Will Make Your Apple Devices More Useful

Posted on 8 June 2021 by Stewart Wolpin

Enhanced security and privacy, increased interoperability between Apple devices, and more intelligent apps are coming to all Apple devices this fall. Many of these new features and capabilities will work across iOS 15, iPadOS 15, watchOS 8, and macOS Monterey (macOS 12) when the new operating systems roll out this fall. Here are our 11 favorite new features.

Read the complete list here at Techlicious.com.

Posted in Apple, Techlicious | Tagged Apple, FaceTime, iCloud, iOS 15, iPadOS 15, macOS 12, MacOS Monterey, Monterey, Privacy Report, Safari, watchOS 8 | Leave a comment