Category: 📁 Tech Plans

Here is an idea for how to create a singular and clear Wordpress brand for both Automattic and the WordPress Foundation. I wonder if this could potentially help both of them prosper and grow much better together into the foreseeable future.

Quick • Name Changes And Locations

• Automattic Inc. > Wordpress Inc. - wordpress.com/inc
• WordPress.com > Wordpress - wordpress.com
• WordPress > Wordpress Org or Wordpress.org - wordpress.org
• WordPress Foundation > Wordpress Foundation - wordpress.org/foundation
• Automattic > Wordpress Automattic - automattic.com
• Ma.tt & Matt.blog > Matt Mullenweg - mattmullenweg.com

What

• Sell WordPress trademark to Automattic and rename Automattic Inc. to Wordpress Inc.
• Allow use of WordPress trademark to be used on anything for eternity for WordPress Foundation too
• Rename WordPress.com > Wordpress and Wordpress Inc. - Wordpress, formerly WordPress.com
• Rename WordPress > Wordpress Org and Wordpress Foundation - Wordpress Org, formerly WordPress. Alternatives > Wordpress.org? Wordpress Open? Wordpress Core? Wordpress Base? Wordpress Free?
• Relocate Wordpress Foundation > Wordpress Org - Simplify with Foundation at Wordpress.org and Inc. at Wordpress.com
• Rename Automattic > Wordpress Automattic - Stay at automattic.com as Careers website and internal company domain

Why

• Life is short. Take a chance. The risk is worth the reward. Simplify and create a single, well-known, and strong brand.
• Wordpress.com and Automattic can help WordPress Foundation a lot by making more money
• Automattic could make much more money if it can use Wordpress trademark and name for anything
• Wordpress could be best name for both WordPress.com and for Automattic company going forward
• We can use Wordpress brand name on many products for both Inc. and Foundation creating a network effect
• Wordpress.org and WordPress is so popular now that Wordpress Inc. would likely face trouble restricting future trademark access

Axiomattic

• If you don't trust yourself with trademark, do you think someone in the future who is less altruistic will care? - Build for our generation
• Accept that you can only control trademark, foundation, and company while you are leader and alive - Even Rome fell

Updated Date - Nov 22, 2023
Original Date - May 26, 2021

I no longer receive much joy in buying many Apple products because with the latest iPod Touch 7 and Apple TV 6 you are getting 3 year old processor technology and 7 year old design technology.

The result is that you are still getting the negative of having to wait to buy Apple products on their slow and well thought out schedule, but now without the positive of receiving close to the newest or fastest technology.

Could iPhone SE 3 be released in Spring 2024 and Touch ID debut on side of iPhones in Fall 2021 or later? Here is a guess for when we might see another iPhone SE as well as for how and when Touch ID might be added to the iPhone. This idea is based on an analysis of when each of these changes and additions to the iPhone lineup occurred in the past.

Notes

• There are many reports recently and over the last year about when the next iPhone SE will debut and what features it will have.
• Some mention that a new iPhone SE will debut in Spring 2022 with another 4.7" display, and then another version in Spring 2023 with a punch hole notch.
• Before that, there was a rumor that a version with a 5.5" or 6" display would be released as early as Spring 2021.
• There are also many reports over the last few years about how and when Apple might add fingerprint authentication back to the iPhone.
• After looking into it I came up with an alternate idea and guess on what could happen and when.
• Follow along if you wish.

iPhone SE

• Fall 2013 - iPhone 5S released as first phone with Touch ID in bottom button and last phone with 4" screen
• Spring 2016 - iPhone SE 1 released with same design as iPhone 5S and upgraded internals - 2.5 years later
• Fall 2017 - iPhone 8 released as last phone with Touch ID in bottom button and last phone with 4.7" and 5.5" screens
• Spring 2020 - iPhone SE 2 released with same design as iPhone 8 and upgraded internals - 2.5 years later
• Fall 2021 - iPhone 12S or 13 releases as first phone with Touch ID in side button and possibly last phone with 5.4" and 6" screens
• Spring 2024 - iPhone SE 3 releases with same design as iPhone 12S or 13 and upgraded internals - 2.5 years later

iPhone Authentication

• Fall 2013 - Touch ID Bottom - iPhone 5S released as first phone with Touch ID in home button
• Fall 2017 - Face ID Top - iPhone X released as first phone with Face ID in top notch - 4 years later
• Fall 2021 - Touch ID Side - iPhone 12S or 13 releases as first phone with Touch ID in side button - 4 years later

Thoughts

• So, besides guessing that they could add fingerprint authentication back to the iPhone this year, I'm also guessing that they will use a side-mounted Touch ID instead of an in-screen fingerprint reader.
• This guess also basically implies that this will be a year in which they leave the design very similar to the iPhone 12.
• But even though it could be an S year, whether or not they brand it as such, they would still be making a fairly large addition to the lineup in the form of the side-mounted Touch ID sensor.
• I will add though, that I wonder if they may even remove Face ID from the non-Pro phones for 2021, or less likely from all of the phones. I'm not talking about the notch, just that Face ID could be removed.
• Removing Face ID from the non-Pro phones and not using an in-screen fingerprint reader would allow them to reduce the cost on them in the Fall of 2021, partially obviating the need for a new SE in the Spring of 2022, while also offering the exact same design without Face ID in the Spring of 2024, on that potential entry level iPhone SE 3.
• With that said, the details for what they will do with Face ID, and when they will change the size of the notch or go to no notch at all is a separate issue I think.
• I also have a few contrarian guesses for how that could happen.
• However, I think the issue of Face ID and the notch is kind of unrelated to the main two ideas in this article.
• The first idea being that the next iPhone SE 3 could possibly not be released until the Spring of 2024, and be based on the design from the Fall 2021 iPhones.
• The second idea being that Apple could possibly add fingerprint authentication back to the iPhone using the side-mounted Touch ID sensor already in use on the iPad, instead of creating a new in-screen fingerprint reader.
• Furthermore, that this side-mounted Touch ID could possibly debut on the main line of iPhones released this year in the Fall of 2021, similar to how the first Touch ID came to the iPhone 5S in a year in which they didn't radically change the design and screen size.

I wonder if Tesla should sell their self driving car software to any companies that want it under a name like "Tesla OS", and still make their own vehicles to sell of course.

Could Apple release a smaller and cheaper mid-range 5.4" iPhone in 2020, or even 2019? Here’s a theory for why, when, and how Apple might release a 5.4″ iPhone as a smaller and cheaper mid-range device to replace the iPhone 8 at about the $649 price point, but which could also be not too much larger in size than the 4″ iPhone SE.

Good Thing, Small Package

I wonder if Apple could announce a surprise 5.4″ iPhone in September 2019 with about a 1602 x 740 pixel screen at 326 PPI. It would be a smaller version of the 6.1″ XR, just like the 5.8″ XS is to the 6.5″ XS Max, and it would be physically not too much larger than the iPhone SE. [Link]

The inspiration for this article comes from the above thought I wrote previously on my website and social media. John Gruber from Daring Fireball made my day by taking the time to respond, pointing out that such a device would be unlikely to be released in the fall of 2019. I most certainly agree with this. Yet here I am anyway, thankfully inspired to write a few more of my thoughts behind the possibility of a 5.4" iPhone, including why, when, and in what form Apple might release the device.

It would be delightful if they did, but that seems impossible given how leaky the supply chain is.

— John Gruber (@gruber) September 6, 2019

Leaky Mid-range Math

• 4.7 - 0.7 = 4.0" - iPhone 5/SE
• 5.4 - 0.7 = 4.7" - iPhone 6/SE2
• 4.7 + 0.7 = 5.4" - iPhone 11?
• 5.4 + 0.7 = 6.1" - iPhone XR/11?
• 6.5 - 0.7 = 5.8" - iPhone XS/Pro
• 5.8 + 0.7 = 6.5" - iPhone XS/Pro Max
• ----
• 5.4 - 0.6 = 4.8" - Test Device/Size?
• 6.1 + 0.6 = 6.7" - Test Device/Size?

So the supply chain production leaks and all of the rumors for this year point to only updates to the 5.8" XS, 6.1" XR, and 6.5" XS Max. However, there has at least been one small leak about a 5.4" iPhone, which I will talk about later on in this article, even if it's for the 2020 phones. While it's quite likely that the top-tier devices end up being the 5.4" and 6.7" versions from that leak, I wonder does Apple really want to change the size of the XS from 5.8" to 5.4" so soon? If not, would the above list of devices point to a possible range of display sizes that Apple could have been testing and planned to produce in the end?

Apple made 5 versions of the 3.5" phone, from iPhone to iPhone 4S. They made 4 versions of the 4.0" phone, from iPhone 5 to iPhone SE. If they release a 4.7" "SE2" in the spring of 2020 they'll have made 5 versions of the 4.7" phone, from iPhone 6 to iPhone SE2. But they are only going to make 2 versions of the 6.5" device, in 2018 and 2019, just to bump it up not even 0.2 inches to 6.7" in 2020? That doesn't quite sound like what Apple has typically done in the past, which is pick a size and resolution, commit to it and stick with it for a number of generations.

It would be interesting if Apple had planned to evenly space out the size of these devices, going up from the 4.0" and 4.7" sizes, up to the 5.4" and 6.1" sizes. If they did release a 5.4" device as their regular mid-range and mainstream device at some point, along with a budget 4.7" in spring 2020, they would end up with 3 evenly spaced out display sizes of 4.7", 5.4", and 6.1" for their non-Pro phones.

Mysterious $649 iPhone Rumor

• $399 - iPhone 4.7" - SE 2
• $649 - iPhone 5.4" - 11
• $749 - iPhone 6.1" - 11
• $999 - iPhone Pro 5.8" - 11 Pro
• $1099 - iPhone Pro 6.5" - 11 Pro

In a rumor from EDN in April of 2019, it was mentioned that there could be 4.7" iPhone update in 2020 with a potential price of $649. Again my theory might be unlikely, but I wonder if this device to be released in spring 2020 will target a lower price point, similar to the price point of the original iPhone SE, at $399 or $499. To achieve this price point, Apple may or may not have to design the 4.7" iPhone SE successor with a metal or plastic casing and no wireless charging. Potentially this design could be externally more like the original iPhone SE and recent iPad Pros with flat metal sides and back, as opposed to the iPhone 8 glass design with wireless charging.

However, Apple could still have a device planned to target that $649 price point, making that part of the rumor also true but in a different phone. I wonder if this is where this new mid-tier 5.4" iPhone with Face ID could come in, either this year or more likely in the fall of 2020. It might make sense, because like the XS being $100 cheaper than the XS Pro, this new 5.4" iPhone could potentially be priced $100 cheaper than the XR from 2018. Of course it's possible that they change these prices slightly going forward, but the basic tiers would be segmented nicely in the above list, hitting base price points of around $400, $700, and $1000.

Back To The Future In 2020

I wonder if Apple could announce a surprise 5.4″ iPhone in September 2019 with about a 1602 x 740 pixel screen at 326 PPI. It would be a smaller version of the 6.1″ XR, just like the 5.8″ XS is to the 6.5″ XS Max, and it would be physically not too much larger than the iPhone SE.

While it's unlikely that Apple announces or releases a 5.4" iPhone in 2019, the thinking behind my original thought was mainly the idea that the rumored 5.4" iPhone for 2020 could possibly be a smaller version of the XR/iPhone line, and not a new device size for the current XS/Pro line.

In June of 2019 some completely unknown guy named Ming-Chi Kuo wrote this super far-fetched note about Apple potentially releasing 5.4" and 6.7" iPhones for release in the fall of 2020. Seriously though, this idea instantly becomes a pretty likely scenario, because of the legendary analyst that Ming-Chi Kuo is. However, I just wonder if there is a small chance that this rumor is only partially true, since it was still pretty early in the design testing and rumor mill for the 2020 iPhones. Sometimes these rumors are based in evidence but a little off, like in February of 2017 when he was thinking that the new 2017 iPhone design, the eventual iPhone X, would have a 5.8" screen, but that it would include a 5.15" usable screen with a virtual button area integrated below as part of the screen.

I wonder if the 5.4" device he is seeing evidence of could possibly, just maybe, be an early testing device that ends up being the smaller version of the current XR mid-range device, while the 5.8" and 6.5" XS/Pro device sizes remain the same going into 2020 and the future.

Surprise "Product"ion

• September 10th - Release 3 phones, and announce 1 other phone
• September 11th - Start production of the announced phone - 5.4" iPhone
• December 6th? - Release the announced phone in December or November

As far as this 5.4" phone being released in 2019, it's certainly unlikely. We may never be surprised by a new iPhone again because of leaks coming out well before the Apple event announcements. If Apple was to ever surprise us again with an iPhone product, I wondered if there is any chance that they could pull it off by following the above strategy and schedule? Probably not, but it was just another crazy idea I had behind the unlikely idea of a 5.4" iPhone being announced in September, but still released later the same year in December, and at least still being released before Christmas.

Basically, now that Apple is releasing so many phones in the fall, could they delay the release of just one of those phones until December, but announce it in September? On top of this, could that one phone each year be some type of new design that they are trying to hide, now that they seem to be staggering a single new device each year, with the iPhone X in 2017, and iPhone XR in 2018?

One interesting thing about this schedule, if it was at all possible, is that the strategy might possibly be repeatable. For instance, in 2020 they could redesign only the 5.8" device with an in-display fingerprint reader and/or camera under the display, but leave the other three devices with the current design. Those three devices would go into production in about July, and the single device with a new design would go into production in about September after the fall Apple event, and be released later in December or November.

Started From The Top

• 2017 Fall - Pro Small - X at $999
• 2018 Fall - Pro Large, Regular Large - XS Max at $1099, XR at $749
• 2019 Fall - Regular Small - 5.4" iPhone at $599-$699? $649?
• 2020 Spring - Budget Classic - 4.7" SE2 at $399-$499?

It could make sense to release a smaller mainstream tiered iPhone this fall or winter. One reason for using this release schedule is that there appears to be a more legitimate rumor and frequent prediction of a budget device coming out next spring. As I noted above, it appears to be sounding more and more likely that this could be a 4.7" device based in some way on the iPhone 8, according to another report from Nikkei earlier this September.

If Apple was to release a 5.4" iPhone in this smaller form factor this year, then I would think many people would buy this device immediately and see this phone as a mainstream successor in price to the iPhone 8 and in size to the iPhone 5/SE, even though the $649 price is higher than the SE. If Apple doesn't release a 5.4" iPhone before the release of the physically larger but lower priced 4.7" budget device in the spring of 2020, then all of the people who buy this other potential SE successor, possibly priced in the budget category at a price of around $399, won't be interested in buying this $649 5.4" device in the fall of 2020. I would think that Apple might prefer making more money on larger margins, by getting more people to first buy this $649 phone in 2019 with the new small bezel design, as opposed to that $399 phone in 2020 with the old large bezel design.

Besides releasing a more expensive mainstream 5.4" before the more budget 4.7" update in the spring of 2020, Apple might also not mind having this 5.4" phone at $649 be released in December because it would be released after their high-end phones. Some people will wait until December because they want the smaller, cheaper 5.4" device. But many people want the larger, more premium devices just because they are the premium devices, or because they are available at the announcement. And there could even be people who will debate between the $999 5.8" iPhone Pro and the $649 5.4" iPhone, who end up going with the Pro because they want it now and don't want to wait.

99 Problems, And A Big Notch Was One

Besides starting near the top prices of the product line in the fall of 2017 with the iPhone X and going to the bottom prices of the product line in the spring of 2020 with the iPhone SE 2, here are a few more reasons why 2019 might make sense as the perfect time to release a smaller and cheaper 5.4" version of the iPhone XR from 2018. Again, 2020 is more likely because we haven't heard any rumors or leaks, but nonetheless now would make sense if Apple had planned this all out beforehand for various reasons.

• Making the notches smaller for 2019 makes this 5.4" or a 4.8" device possible
• Making phones thicker for 2019 makes a decent battery size and life possible
• It would make a "new" device for 2019, to follow new X in 2017, and XR in 2018
• Indecision on whether they should make a 4.8" or 5.4" regular small iPhone
• Cost reductions in Face ID since 2017, making a $649 smaller device possible
• Cost reductions in other areas from the larger and similar design XR device

Now We're Here

So on September 10th, in a couple days, we're likely to hear about the release of updates to the 5.8", 6.1", and 6.5" iPhones for 2019, which have been rumored for a long time. Then, in 2020 the most likely scenario at this point appears to be high-end 5.4" and 6.7" Pro iPhones.

But keep your eye out for the small hope of a small phone, with the idea that the rumored 5.4" iPhone might be the mid-range iPhone, making it the new mainstream iPhone. It might make sense to equally space out the sizes going from the classic 4.7", up to the current sizes of 5.4" and 6.1" phones. And it might not be a coincidence that the difference between 6.5" and 5.8" is 0.7", while the difference between 6.1" and 5.4" is that same 0.7". As John Gruber mentioned, a 5.4" device to go along with the current 6.1" phone could be "delightful". Especially for people who might want a smaller and cheaper mid-range device around $599-$699, so they don't have to pay over $1000 for a phone.

Here are the potential names I would use for a new disc-less or all digital Xbox.

Predicted

• Xbox One S All-Digital Edition
• Xbox One E
• Xbox One D - For "Digital"
• Xbox One Digital

As far as what they are likely to call it, I think Xbox One E is certainly a possibility. One of the reasons is because that is the name they used for an updated version previously, the Xbox 360 E. As long as they still like that scheme, they could stick with it. I am aware that it has been rumored to be called Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, so that is very likely as well. I just wonder if there is a possibility of that name being more of  a behind the scenes full name, and they go with a simpler brand name at retail for customers. Probably not, but you never know.

Suggested

• Xbox One T
• Xbox One R
• Xbox One E
• Xbox One TV
• Xbox One Tiny
• Xbox One Small

I like the simplicity of using single letters for different products in a product line. Plus, Microsoft has been using that type of branding for both the Xbox One S and Xbox One X, as well as the most recent versions of the Xbox 360 S and Xbox 360 E. So it makes sense to stick with the single letter naming scheme for this version as well, instead of using a more full name like the rumored "All-Digital Edition", or the previous Arcade and Elite of the 360.

I like R better than E because it is commonly used for higher end devices and they are not yet using that letter for any Xbox One device. Using letters like A, C, E, G might typically be thought of as lower tier devices. Using letters like R, S, T, X might typically be thought of as higher tier devices. So basically, I'd go with R because it sounds cooler and is still a letter less than S and X, which are higher end devices and already in use. Or I'd go with T because it might sound even better than R, and could denote the longer name of Tiny or TV, similar to how the current S could denote the longer name of Small or Slim.

Xbox One R

There are admittedly a couple reasons not to call the device the Xbox One T, and use Xbox One R instead. First, if they want to follow one style of typical letter naming scheme, a lower letter denotes a lesser capable or more budget device. With that scheme, this new device should use a letter lower alphabetically than S. In that case, Xbox One R or Xbox One E makes more sense. However, you don't have to make lesser letters mean a lesser device. So Xbox One T is still fine to use if you think it's the best name, and T also comes one letter after S, which I think could be interesting to signify that it comes after the Xbox One S device chronologically.

Similarly, if they were to ever update the Xbox One X with a smaller design they could consider naming it the Xbox One Z, which comes shortly after X alphabetically and after the Xbox One X device chronologically. Using the letters S, T, X, and Z might be the four best letters to use when naming these products.

Second, if they do eventually release a dongle or stick Xbox device, or even an Xbox TV integrated into regular TVs, then the distinction between the names Xbox One TV and Xbox One T could be confusing in the future. However, it might also make sense going forward, because the Xbox One T could morph into the Xbox TV. People might associate that T with TV, and see that the Xbox TV is a further evolution, or even smaller and integrated version of the older Xbox One T, with similar features. The Xbox One T would be like the console box version, and the Xbox TV would be the version integrated into TVs or as a small stick or dongle.

Xbox One T

I like T better than E, and possibly even R, for multiple reasons. While it's debatable for sure, I think it might just sound better than R and be more preferable to consumers. Meaning that if you were just to pick 3 letters to use for branding that you would choose S, T, and X for your three products simply because they are the most marketable and cool sounding. S, T, and X are also in order if you don't count those weird U, V, and W letters that companies don't generally use for naming products with letters.

Another reason I might like T better than R though, is for what it "stands" for. While the name for a product with a single letter branding scheme should stand on its own and just sound good, it might not hurt if it also brings reference to certain words as well, like S does with Small, Slim, or Sleek. Using Xbox One T makes sense in this regard, even if the most important aspect is just using the best sounding letter. So I like that the T can stand for Tiny, Television, or TV, and that people might associate it with those words.

In particular, I like that the S in Xbox One S could be lengthened to the full name Small, and the T in the Xbox One T could be lengthened to the full name Tiny. And possibly the X in Xbox One X could be an acronym for "Xtra", just like XL means extra large. They could even potentially use these full names in certain places in branding or at least marketing. Salespeople could use the longer name to explain the consoles to consumers, and it could help consumers understand the main difference between the devices. "Oh, the S is the small one smaller than the original, the T is the tiny one that's good for using for TV and movies, and the X is the extra large one that's extra powerful for gaming."

However, the most important thing is having a simple name that sounds best. So that is why I think they should stick with the single letter naming, and use the name Xbox One T or Xbox One R.

Here are the prices and features I'd put in the new 2019 iPad and iPad Mini products.

Why

• Keep the existing budget iPad in the lineup for a low cost device
• Put a bit newer technology in the other entry level iPads to make them desirable
• Raise the prices a bit if needed for a bit newer technology
• Include laminated display and thinner chassis because it's important
• Price iPad and iPad Mini only slightly different, not a much cheaper Mini
• Keep the old design with Touch ID to keep costs down some still though

Prices

• iPad 9.7" - 2018 - $299 32 GB, $399 128 GB
• iPad Mini 7.9" - 2019 - $449 64 GB, $549 256 GB
• iPad 10.5" - 2019 - $499 64 GB, $599 256 GB

Features

• Same Design - Touch ID and Bezels
• Similar Display Sizes and Resolutions - 7.9" and 10.5"
• Thinner Chassis for iPad - Like Mini 4 and Pro 10.5
• Laminated Display - And Anti-Reflective
• A12 Processer
• 3 GB RAM
• Apple Pencil Gen 1
• Touch ID Gen 2
• Wifi 802.11ac
• Bluetooth 5

Android phone makers should make budget phones with 5.0" 1440x720 displays for one-handed use.

I wonder if Apple should have released an affordable, mass market $99 home speaker assistant first instead of the expensive HomePod, similar to what they did with Apple TV.

I wish there was a setting to automatically sync between 2 iOS devices which apps I have installed and their location on the home screens.

It sounds like Google has aquired much of HTC's hardware team and some non-exclusive IP in their latest 1+ billion deal. But I also read that HTC will likely continue on with a new phone separately, using the HTC brand name. So this might mean that Google isn't going to use the HTC name for a product, and may not have acquired the rights to the brand name. This makes sense, as they have now branded their smartphone and some other hardware products as "Pixel". Before that, they had used the "Nexus" brand name for many products.

Back in 2012, it sounded like Google did a similar but slightly different type of acquisition with Motorola. That deal was worth 12+ billion, and they acquired the hardware team and IP. But I believe they also acquired the brand name, and the entire Motorola company, in that much bigger deal. However, they haven't kept the brand name, and did not use it on many products. I believe Lenovo later bought the rights to the Moto and Motorola brand names along with some other assets in a deal with Google.

Missed Opportunity

I find it interesting that Google ended up not using the Motorola brand name, and selling the brand name to Lenovo. And with this smaller HTC deal, it sounds like they again won't be using the brand name in their large purchase of a fairly prominent hardware company's assets. Just like Moto, HTC is a hardware brand that has actually been around for a very long time, going back to Microsoft's Pocket PC mobile OS.

I wonder if Google missed an opportunity when making their decisions to buy HTC and Motorola. HTC may not be a strong enough brand name. But Motorola, and their nickname brand Moto, were and are very strong brand names. So much so, that Lenovo purchased Motorola and its name from Google. And they even decided to keep the brand name and ditched its own brand name for the Moto phones. It sounded like they originally thought they would go with "Moto by Lenovo", and even decided against that to just use Moto by itself as the brand name for Moto branded phones.

Brand Name Value

Brand names can be quite valuable. Other good brand names in the smartphone technology space that have been acquired in deals include Nokia and Palm. If you either want to use your own brand name like "Google Phone", or a brand name you come up with like "Pixel", then you make the decision that you don't want to buy a company partially for its brand name. But Google payed so much for Motorola, a brand name that was up there with Nokia and Palm, because of its history with the popular Moto Razr and other phones.

And now it looks like Google is getting serious again about upping their hardware game and getting a better team in-house. To go head to head with the iPhone like most articles say. But they have chosen not to buy an established brand name as part of the costly deal when other companies have payed a lot of money largely, or at least partially, for the brand names of Moto, Nokia, and Palm. Personally, I agree that not using HTC as their main smartphone brand is probably the best move. But it still makes me think of that big deal for Motorola as well. I just think Google might have been able to get a leg up if they had made more of a commitment to the established Moto brand by using it for the first smartphone they developed in-house.

But Android Won

Of course, it's worth noting that both the Nokia and Palm acquisitions did not turn out well. Maybe Google knew what it was doing when it decided not to go with the Moto brand name, but go with their own brand "Google Nexus". It's Android that is still going strong, while the Palm and Nokia brand names were kind of squandered by HP and Microsoft.

There are so many other factors though. I still think Microsoft and HP were wise to use the strong Nokia and Palm brand names after their equally huge deals for those companies. Microsoft's deal for Nokia was around 7 billion, and HP's deal for Palm around 1 billion. But at least they wanted to use the great smartphone brand names. Windows Mobile and Palm OS are basically dead for now and both companies resold the brand names of Nokia and Palm just as Google resold the Moto and Motorola brand names. However Google payed around 12 billion for Moto and 1 billion for HTC, but it doesn't look like they will use the brand names at all.

Tough Decision

It's a touch decison though. How far do they go with it? Would we now have a "Moto Home" and a "Moto Notebook"? Google decided they didn't want to use Motorola, and now HTC, as brands for their smartphone or other hardware devices. I'm not saying they made the wrong decision for sure. But they sure payed a hefty price, especially in the Motorola deal, to end up not using such a strong brand name. They are paying billions of dollars in these hardware deals to further their commitment to making their own Android devices with integrated hardware and software. But they may have missed an opportunity to at least start off using a solid smartphone brand name like Moto, HTC, or some other established brand, when they made these huge acquisition deals.

From a user perspective I think that any audio, music, or radio apps or websites like Play Music or Spotify should not have any video ads, only audio ads.

I wonder if Microsoft should rename Windows 10 S in the future to just Windows 10, and Windows 10 Home to Windows 10 Plus. Have Windows 10, Windows 10 Plus, and Windows 10 Pro.

I like that Twitter now allows Direct Messages, but I wonder if a shorter limit would be better. I suggest limiting them to either 1000 or 1500 characters.

Apple should allow you to sync all iOS settings between two iOS devices, including the apps and their order on home screens.

It seems like TechMeme used to have many more stories on products, services, and software instead of so many stories on businesses, people, and money.

You've likely heard that Apple has made the Swift programming language open source. Of course, this means that developers could potentially be able to use Swift to make software on other platforms. That could eventually include Linux, Android, Windows, and web applications. I'm not completely sure of all the reasons why Apple has made this move. But here are a few ideas and thoughts.

Popularity Means More OS X And iOS Developers

Likely, Apple would simply like Swift to become more popular. If Swift becomes so popular that it is used for other platforms, then developers who have learned Swift might be more likely to build native apps for OS X and iOS at some point.

I believe Swift's first and foremost role at Apple will continue to be building native OS X and iOS apps, likely using Apple's XCode development environment. And Apple's main goal is still likely to get developers making native apps for their devices and computers. But anyone who learns Swift will likely think of building an app for OS X or iOS at some point, even if they first used Swift to build an app on Android or another platform.

Free Means Anyone Can Learn It, Including Students

Students are basically the developers of the future. By making Swift open source, it gives Swift a chance to be used as the basis for University or College classes. And if schools are teaching Swift, then businesses might want to make software using Swift because they have a bunch of young developers who already know the language.

At the same time, it makes it so that anyone, young or old, can use and learn Swift for free. While open source and free aren't the same things, it does essentially mean that anyone can learn Swift pretty easily now. They won't even need to get a Mac to learn Swift. But I think Apple still hopes that eventually they will get or use a Mac, whether it's at home or at work. That's because Swift will still be best used to build native apps on Mac and iOS.

Enterprise Is Where The Big Money Is

Apple at one point was largely targeting creative professionals with their Mac computers. But it seems they are trying to work their way into the enterprise more and more these days. They worked a deal with IBM to create iOS apps. And I wonder if open sourcing Swift could lead to many more enterprise customers for Apple as well.

While a large amount of enterprise software is shifting to the cloud, it doesn't mean that businesses don't still use or build software that isn't only web-based. Client-server applications are still used by most big businesses. It also doesn't mean that businesses won't ever find reasons in the future to make some software for a specific platform.

If Apple can figure out a way to get more enterprises to build custom software for Macs, they have a whole whack of money to gain. We're talking about huge businesses deciding to make custom client-server software on Macs, and outfitting their whole company with iMacs. Companies like Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, and HP are making all this money now. I don't think Apple is a big player in the enterprise space, but it doesn't mean they never will be. Maybe the announcement of Swift being open source could help Apple work their way into the enterprise.

Getting Help And Building A Community

Making a programming language and framework to build applications is not easy. When you make something open source, you basically gain a whole bunch of people who will help you build something without having to pay them. You also gain a community, hopefully making people feel like they are helping to build something together.

I think it's worth noting that making something open source and building a community around it hasn't been something Apple has done a lot of in the past. It will be interesting to see if they can do a good job with open sourcing Swift. I think Google and Microsoft have so much more experience in this area, and kind of make it look easy. Apple could go through a big learning curve with this approach, similar to their troubles with making cloud software. You know, things like MobileMe, iCloud, and Apple Maps. Being open like this certainly hasn't been Apple's strong point either. So we'll see how well they are able to pull this idea off.

It Worked For Android And WordPress

Google chose to use Java for Android, likely for many of the reasons above. Java was extremely popular both at schools and at enterprises. It was being used by students to learn programming, and enterprise developers were using it to build huge client-server applications, and also large business web applications and websites. Because so many developers already knew Java, it was easier for them to try making an Android app.

Similarly, PHP is being used for creating a large amount of the smaller websites and blogs on the internet. WordPress became extremely popular, largely because it is built using PHP, an open source programming language. And because WordPress itself is open source. Microsoft and Oracle could get big enterprises to use their programming tools and languages, but ended up losing a lot of customers because hosting a WordPress website is so much cheaper.

Apple is kind of following in Android's and WordPress' footsteps with this move. They want Swift to get more popular. And to do that, it needs to be free to use, and available to learn on platforms other than Macs.

• Q&A: Apple’s Craig Federighi talks open source Swift, Objective-C and the next 20 years of development
• Welcome to Swift.org - Swift.org

I guess Mozilla just couldn't wait until iOS was 10 years old. The Firefox web browser has finally been officially released for iOS, eight and a half years after iOS was first introduced with the first iPhone.

Syncing Bookmarks To Mobile Is (And Was) Important

In my mind, the release of Firefox for iOS is important for one main reason. We now have the ability to sync bookmarks to Firefox on iOS. For the majority of people out there, that is all that really matters.

You can count me as one of those people. Like many other people I'm sure, I used Firefox as my main browser for quite a number of years. When I bought my first iOS device, a 2G iPod Touch, I had to figure out which browser to use. For quite a while I still used Firefox on the desktop. My journey took me to drop Firefox on my desktop for Safari, then to Mercury which used Firefox Sync, then back to Safari, and finally to Chrome.

The only real reason I switched was because I couldn't easily sync my bookmarks in a fully supported way with an iOS Firefox app. I really think that Mozilla unfortunately underestimated this impact and  lost a boatload of dedicated users simply by not having an iOS app that synced bookmarks. While it might have mattered to Mozilla, it wouldn't have mattered much to users if it was a little slow or didn't use its own rendering engine. And a large majority of those people who switched to sync their bookmarks to their desktop aren't going to go back to Firefox now because they already switched.

The Competition Is Tougher Than It Was In 2005

You think that in, say 2005, that it was tough for Mozilla to compete with Microsoft's built-in IE browser? Yes, it was extremely difficult since IE was installed by default and Microsoft was a behemoth of a software company. Firefox slowly gained more and more users as more and more people became more knowledgable about computers. Some of those people looked into using a different browser.

But how about the competition now. Google has a crazy amount of money and the most dominant mobile platform with Android. Apple has a ridiculous amount of money too, and anyone with a Mac will simply use Safari. Not to mention Microsoft has recently released Windows 10, which has a built-in browser that is much improved, with Edge. If you follow my logic though, Mozilla actually has a leg up on Microsoft now, since Edge isn't yet available on Android and iOS mobile platforms yet. So you can't sync your bookmarks, er I mean favorites.

But however you look at it, it's only going to be tougher for Mozilla to gain back users that it lost by not having Firefox and bookmarks syncing available on iOS. Google and Apple are both as big as Microsoft now, and all three of those companies put a large amount of effort and resources into building their web browser. But at least going forward Mozilla can now promote Firefox being available on iOS, which will interest some people into giving it a shot on their laptop or desktop again too.

Firefox Web Browser For iOS Features

Here are some of the features highlighted by Mozilla on the Firefox for iOS App Store page.

Experience a fast, smart and personal Web. Firefox is the independent, people-first browser made by Mozilla, voted one of the Most Trusted Internet Companies for Privacy. Upgrade today and join hundreds of millions who depend on Firefox for a more personal browsing experience.

FAST. SMART. YOURS. Firefox is made with you in mind and gives you the power to take back control of your Web experience. That’s why we design the product with smart features that take the guesswork out of browsing.

SEARCH INTELLIGENTLY & GET THERE FASTER
- Firefox anticipates your needs and intuitively provides multiple suggested and previously searched results across your favorite search engines - every time.
- Easily access shortcuts to search providers

BROWSE PRIVATELY
- Your personal information belongs to you. In Private Browsing mode, Firefox won’t remember any of your history or cookies, but new bookmarks will be saved.
- Delete your browsing history, passwords and more in a single tap.
- Choose the private data you want to remove.
- **iOS 9 required for Private Browsing mode**

SYNC FIREFOX ACROSS YOUR DEVICES
- With a Firefox Account, access your history, bookmarks and open tabs from your desktop on your smartphone and tablet.
- Firefox can also remember your passwords across devices so you don’t have to.

INTUITIVE VISUAL TABS
- Intuitive visual and numbered tabs easily let you find content for future reference.
- Open as many tabs as you like without losing track of your open Web pages.

EASY ACCESS TO YOUR TOP SITES
- Spend your time reading your favorites sites instead of looking for them.

• Firefox web browser - App Store

We may have Android PCs and laptops by 2017, which could compete more directly with Windows and Mac computers. This has been rumored before, but this time it comes from the Wall Street Journal, a pretty reliable source.

Android PCs Make Sense

It makes complete sense to me that Google will eventually make "Android for PC". Android is an extremely popular mobile OS, so a lot of those apps could also run on a desktop OS. Google has been making an Android OS for pretty much every other platform over the last couple of years, except for the desktop. This includes their decision to make Android Auto, Android Wear, and Android TV. And thirdly, even though Google has focused on the cloud for desktop, there are still limitations to a desktop operating system like Chrome OS which doesn't support native applications.

Native Apps And Games Have Advantages

It's great to run software in the cloud so it is cross-platform. But there are still cases where native apps work better, and we can have the best of both worlds. Games is one of those categories. Google could make a large amount of money just from Android for PC games. Also any applications which could benefit from locally saved data will also work better with a native desktop OS. This includes productivity apps and even apps for photos and music.

I know browsers continue to get better with saving data locally, but just being able to have your own files on your computer is still better in many cases. Or to be able to install Dropbox for your Android PC if you use Dropbox instead of Google Drive. While most software is also moving online as well, there are still many people who will buy a Windows 10 computer instead of one with Chrome OS, just because they like having their files offline on their computer as well.

It's All About The Taskbar

I'm completely oversimplifying here, but as a very simple implementation, Google could almost just add a taskbar at the bottom for Android for PCs. I'm not saying that is all they will do or should do. They want to do something similar to Microsoft where an app can be created for all platforms, but the UI looks different on the desktop than it does on mobile. But I'm just saying that to me the biggest difference is just that taskbar at the bottom. That is why I thought Windows 8 didn't work without a taskbar, and why I believe Microsoft made the correct decision with Windows 10 to bring Windows Store apps into windows on the desktop.

Google's Single Android OS Advantage

One advantage that I believe Google has over Microsoft and Apple, is that they don't have to support legacy applications. While mobile Android apps are not designed for a large screen, at least they would run on a version of Android for PCs. It's not like the difference Microsoft has between the Windows 8 and later Store apps, and original Windows desktop "programs". Google does need to support Chrome OS apps, but that is kind of given. They are supporting them on every desktop OS, through Chrome. It's not like trying to merge iOS and Mac OS X for instance.

• Google to fold Chrome OS, Android together into new OS strategy for 2017 - Apple Insider
• Alphabet’s Google to Fold Chrome Operating System Into Android - Wall Street Journal - Subscription required

Could this hidden "ASUS E205SA" reveal an upcoming Windows 10 laptop to replace the excellent 11.6" ASUS eeeBook X205TA notebook?

While reading about Windows 10 budget notebooks I came across this interesting tidbit. It's a reference to an "ASUS E205SA", which has not been announced or mentioned anywhere by ASUS. I wonder if it could be the possible replacement for the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA, which was one of the best reviewed budget laptops with Windows, and a bit of a revival for ASUS of their old eeeBook netbooks. Here's what I found out, along with an overview of a number of cheap budget laptops that ASUS could release later this year with Windows 10.

Earlier this summer, it looks like ASUS announced or released information for three different lines of Windows 10 notebooks in the E series, some of which were previously known as eeeBooks. They have product pages for each of these laptops, with features and specifications.

However, I don't believe any of these have been released yet and their product specs could even change possibly. For instance, the 14" E402MA is listed with Windows 8.1, but I would guess it will come with Windows 10 when released. These laptops will most likely all be released later this year, as a whole line of new budget Windows 10 laptops from ASUS.

ASUS E402MA Regular 14"

There is the 14" ASUS E402MA, which is a 14" laptop with a 500 GB or larger hard drive. It looks like it will come in various colors. Because of the mechanical hard drive it won't be super thin or light. Battery life isn't mentioned but it likely won't be as great as the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA if it does come with only a mechanical hard drive.

ASUS E403SA Thin And Light 14"

There is the 14" ASUS E403SA, which is a 14" laptop with a 32-64 GB eMMC drive. It touts features such as a brushed aluminum finish, thin and light profile, and super long 14 hour battery life. Other than the brushed aluminum finish and 14" display, these specifications are more similar to the old 11.6" eeeBook X205TA.

It's a pretty interesting and good-looking device if you ask me. There's a good chance that it could end up being the best budget notebook with Windows 10. That is, if you are fine with a laptop that is more like a netbook or Chromebook, with only 32-64GB of flash eMMC storage. It has a battery life listed as 14 hours, and should be very light for a 14" laptop.

ASUS E202SA Regular 11.6"

Then there is the 11.6" ASUS E202SA, which is an 11.6" laptop with a 500 GB or larger hard drive. Like the 14" E402MA, it looks like it will come in various colors. It touts a solid 8 hours of battery life. While this laptop will be the same size as the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA, it doesn't have the flash hard drive, super thin and light profile, and excellent 12 hour battery life that it was known for.

ASUS E205SA Thin And Light 11.6" - Possible eeeBook X205TA Update?

However, unless I'm missing something, there is currently no 11.6" laptop with a 32 GB or larger eMMC drive listed anywhere. It got me thinking and wondering if they would also have an 11.6" with a flash eMMC drive to replace the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA. I wondered if it might be named either E203SA or E205SA, based on the product names of the other laptops.

Some quick detective work (yep, a Google Search) brought up an ASUS Web Storage excel file which contains a product named E205SA. It's also interesting that it is one of the few notebooks, along with the 14" E403SA above, to come with 500 GB of ASUS Web Storage as opposed to just 16-32 GB. This is likely because they will be touted as "cloudbooks" with only 32-64 GB of flash eMMC. So you get a large 500 GB of online storage from ASUS free for 2 years.

• Eee PC • ASUS WebStorage (ASUS • Google Translated web page)
• Product Information • ASUS WebStorage.xls (ASUS • English excel file)

What Features Could This New 11.6" ASUS E205SA Have?

So I think it's possible that the reference to an E205SA could mean that it is the actual successor of the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA. If that's the case, then this potential 11.6" E205SA could have similar features and specs as the already announced 14" ASUS E403SA, but be packaged with a 11.6" display.

The 14" ASUS E403SA and 11.6" ASUS E205SA could be very similar to the old 11.6" eeeBook X205TA in that they should be very thin, light, fanless, and have exceptional battery life. They should be cloudbooks and only come with 32-64 GB of eMMC flash storage, and of course come with Windows 10. And they should also be updated with a nice brushed aluminum finish version.

What Features Could All These New ASUS Laptops Have?

All 4 of these product lines could have Braswell processors, a USB Type-C port, and 802.11ac Wifi as a few of their main upgrades. Another interesting new feature could be what ASUS marketing is calling IceCool, which they say is an internal layout that keeps heat away from the palm rest of these laptops so your palms stay cool even when you use it for hours on end.

I do wonder if it's also possible that the colorful 14" ASUS E402MA and 11.6" ASUS E202SA might come in versions with 32-64GB flash drives instead of a 500GB-1TB mechanical hard drive. And maybe the brushed aluminum 14" ASUS E403SA and potential 11.6" E205SA might also come in different colors than just the brushed aluminum finish, either at launch or later.

Best Budget Windows 10 Laptops? (Plus The Competition)

So what does all this mean? Well, put simply, I think that the 14" ASUS E403SA and this uncovered 11.6" ASUS E205SA with flash storage have the potential to be the best budget Windows 10 laptops. Or more specifically, the best alternative to Chromebooks with flash storage and a super thin and light design. And the 14" ASUS E402MA and 11.6" ASUS E202SA could be the best budget Windows 10 laptops if you want a more traditional small laptop with some real hard drive space. Plus you'll hopefully be able to replace the hard drive with a real SSD if you want to on those laptops.

ASUS has a pretty great track record, and it looks to me like these new laptops might be a better option than the previously released 11.6" and 14" Acer Aspire One Cloudbook, and the soon to be released 2015 update to the HP Stream 11 and 13.

The 14" version of the Acer One Cloudbook sounds like a great device as reviews say it has a great 12+ hour battery life and great keyboard for a budget device. While the new version of the HP Stream hasn't been released or reviewed yet, it sounds like the 11" version of the Stream could be the better option since it has an improved 10.5 hour battery life and display. And the previous versions of the 11" Stream was known to have one of the best keyboards for a small netbook-like laptop.

But my spidey senses tell me that once these ASUS laptops come out, they will be reviewed extremely well, just like the old 11.6" ASUS eeeBook X205TA. So if you are looking to buy a good cheap Windows 10 laptop, you might want to wait until ASUS releases their budget Windows 10 lineup.

Conclusion - Potential ASUS Windows 10 Budget Lineup

So if my sleuthing is correct, the E205SA could be the real successor to the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA with flash storage. If not, this article should still have given you a good overview of the unreleased budget Windows 10 laptops that should be upcoming from ASUS. Here's a quick overview of what their Windows 10 budget lineup could look like, including the unannounced "ASUS E205SA", which could be the eeeBook X205TA replacement.

• 11.6" ASUS E205SA - 32-64GB flash eMMC
• 14" ASUS E403SA - 32-64GB flash eMMC
• 11.6" ASUS E202SA - 500GB-1TB drive
• 14" ASUS E402MA - 500GB-1TB drive

As far as pricing, the announcement of the 14" ASUS E403SA suggests it should come in a 32 GB and 2 GB RAM version for $299 USD. I wonder if the ASUS E205SA, the possible successor to the 11.6" eeeBook X205TA,  might come in a 32GB and 2 GB RAM version for $199 or $249 USD, and a 64 GB and 4 GB RAM version for $299 or $349 USD.

If it did, the prices and storage specs for these laptops would be similar to the ASUS ZenFone 2 Android phone, which has been a pretty big hit for ASUS. And it could make them the best and cheapest budget Windows 10 "cloudbook" laptops that offer 64 GB and 4 GB RAM.