4 Reasons why I LOVE Waze!

If anybody is wondering what the best mapping/GPS app is out there, I can answer that question for you.  Definitively, it is Waze.

Waze is an Israeli company that was recently bought by Google for $1.1 billion last month.

Why is Waze the best one out there? 

1. Unlike most mapping apps, they crowd-source their data on traffic, etc from their users.  This is extremely powerful.  With conventional mapping programs, you'd typically enter your destination and then it'll map out the best route and show you.  Some may even give you 2 or 3 options to choose from.

Waze will calculate based on all the users using it, what is the quickest route.  They will also re-route you around a heavy traffic jam if they believe its quicker.  I've learned to trust Waze when they tell me this other route is faster despite my better judgment saying that it's not.

Case in point - I was at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ over the 4th of July weekend.  That Sunday, we were leaving the park at 6 pm. Waze told me to take this back road route all the way up to Outerbridge Crossing which enters into Staten Island, despite us being only 5 miles from the New Jersey Turnpike which goes a lot faster.  I trusted Waze and took this unknown back road, which was, by the way, 12 miles shorter than if I took the Turnpike.  It wasn't until after I read the newspapers the next morning that I discovered the Turnpike had a 16 mile standstill backup at that precise time that took several hours to clear up.  Thanks WAZE!

This is especially powerful in areas where there are lots of users, like on the east coast of the U.S.  I can't vouch for its accuracy in the fly-over states though. They also do allow you to make map modifications and I've read that they're extremely active overseas, like in Europe, etc.  Will be going to Morocco next week so we'll see if it works over there also.  Do they even have iPhones in Morocco??? 

2. One other feature that I find extremely handy - they have a list of gas stations - and using crowd-sourced information, will give you the gas prices for that gas station.  You can pull into the station and update the price if its incorrect.  This comes in handy when you can scroll down and see 20 cents difference if you go left at that corner and down a couple blocks.  VERY powerful. I find myself checking this often to find where the cheapest is so I can fill up or planning around a fill-up and this can save you a couple dollars if you put some energy in it.

The new Google Maps update supposedly is supposed to incorporate some crowd-sourcing on the traffic aspect, as well as on rerouting you around traffic.  I haven't seen this yet as I'm in love with Waze. Will be testing it out though. They likely incorporated this from Waze since they acquired the company.

3.  There are other features, like chatting with other Wazers, you can see accidents on a map that are reported by Wazers, and you can even report them yourself, like a traffic jam or an accident, or even (my favorite) police hiding on highways.

4. It has various other features that other mapping programs have, like verbal cues when you need to take a turn or an exit. This isn't unusual. The one thing I love most is how it'll estimate your time of arrival, and depending on your speed, its pretty accurate down to the minute.  I took a 5 hour drive down to Virginia a couple weeks ago, and it had the ETA within 5 minutes of when I left.  I thought I'd be there an hour earlier because I typically speed, but we still arrived at the time that was estimated.  Amazing. 

One negative, this app can be extremely draining if you leave it running while driving so make sure its plugged in.  Also when you're no longer using it, make sure its shut off or it'll keep running even if you're not driving.  They have a button within the settings that will "shut down" the app so it'll reduce battery drain.

5 Reasons why Driverless cars are the future

It's common knowledge that Google has been testing out a driverless car out in California.

This has been controversial, but I believe the future lies in driverless cars.  I don't think we're that far away from it.  I'd say by the time my current 5 year old daughter is ready to drive, she won't need to.  I can just hand her the keys to her very own driverless car and she can "not drive" herself to school, or off to New York University (my alma mater). I won't complain if she decides against NYU and goes to Harvard.

There are issues with it.  If the car gets into an accident, who's at fault? You? But you weren't "driving."  The car-maker?  The other guy who hit you?  This insurance issue has to be resolved.  Seems reasonable to me to keep the rules the same as they are if you were driving.  Who hit who first? That's typically how liability is doled out in most car insurance payout cases, depending on the state, whether its a no-fault state, etc.  I'm not going to get into all the details here, but seems to be an easy way to do it.

However, there are numerous positives.

1. We can reduce traffic accidents by 90%!  This is eye-catching.

2.  Assuming all the cars on the road are driverless, cars can follow closer together, and this would keep traffic moving.  Especially in those mysterious traffic jams you get into on the highway where everybody stops then goes for no apparent reason and its like a wave down the highway.  Those kinds of traffic jams would be a thing of the past because cars would keep moving and they'd be linked to sensors in the highways that would warn of accidents up ahead and slow you down or move you to a different lane. This would save money on gas since you're not idling or in congested traffic.

3. You can read the paper and drink your coffee while going to work. People can be more productive.  You can check your twitter and facebook accounts. I do that even while driving, so wouldn't be too much of an adjustment.  I'd just be able to read more than 4 words at one time without having to check the road for impending road hazards.

4. You don't have to worry about getting a ticket for talking on the phone while driving.  "I'm not driving - see!"

5. Speeding tickets would be a thing of the past, since it would be impossible to speed.  Everybody would be going in the same direction. (Now this brings up another question - what about ambulances?)

The new Mercedes-Benz 2014 S-Class sedan that's due out this September is able to do self-driving under certain circumstances. It will allow you to stay in your lane, up to 124 mph, and has a myriad of cameras and sensors around the car, but you have to do turns yourself and have to keep your hand on the wheel.

This continues a long trend of top of the line cars getting the best technology first and then over time trickling down to the entry-level cars.  Airbags were initially in top of the line cars.  Now they're standard in all cars. Cruise control also. Even the air-conditioner.  I expect we'll see car manufacturers slowly roll out features like this, and if they prove successful, roll out across multiple models.

However the big test is Google.  Will their equipment translate to a real car?  If you look real closely, basically its a $70,000 radar that they plunk on top of the car.  Obviously cost and aesthetics are an issue, but good design (apple anybody?) can fix that.

In conclusion, I believe that once they can work out liability issues, we're not that far away from driverless cars. I know I'd sign up for one WHEN they become commercially available.

1 Reason why the iPad will always be better than the competition

If you're offered a Lamborghini Gallardo or a Honda Accord, and they both cost the same, which would you choose?

Intriguing question right?  Read on and you'll see where I'm going.

I got the original iPad a few months after it came out, and then when they released the iPad 2, I upgraded to that.  I then bought a second one with 64 GB and gave my previous iPad 2 to my wife. I've had that since, about 18 months now and through two upgrades to the iPad 3 and then the "new" iPad.

Ever since the iPad became a sensation, the competition has been playing catch-up. We've had numerous attempts at it.

Here are the biggest competitors, not in any particular order.

Google Nexus 10

Amazon Kindle Fire HD

Blackberry Playbook  (no, really)

Samsung Galaxy Note

Microsoft Surface


Now, I know that there are many others, but in my opinion, these are the biggest players so far.

If Google, Blackberry, Samsung, or Microsoft (not Amazon) want my free advice on how to make their product more popular, here it is.  PRICING!

Let me say that again, one more time, but louder. PRICING!

All of these priced their tablets, with the exception of the Kindle, at or within $100 of, the same price as the iPad, starting out at $499 which is the base price for a 16 GB model of the iPad.  Big mistake.  Let me tell you why.

Now, let me ask you my first question again.  If you're offered a Lamborghini Gallardo or a Honda Accord, and they both cost the same, which would you choose? 

This, to me, seems to be a no-brainer.  You'd go with the Lamborghini any day of the week, right?  This is the comparison, and until Google, Samsung, Microsoft, and others figure that out, the iPad will continue to run circles around them.  Its all about the user experience and the ecosystem with iTunes which is incredibly powerful.

I've seen all of the other tablets, some I've played with, some I haven't... And none can hold a candle to the iPad.

HP had a TouchPad which was a complete and utter flop, so they discontinued it. As a result, Best Buy then cut the price of it down to $99, and they flew off the shelves.  You can see the story here.  This shows that if priced below the iPad, people will buy it.  But when shown two different products at the same price, people will buy the better one every day of the week.  Until they figure that out, the iPad will continue to sell extremely well.  Especially now that they've come out with the iPad mini which moves the entry price down to $329 from $499.

Look at the Blackberry Playbook. They priced it initially at $499, which I was surprised at. I saw the release, and saw the features, (or rather, lack thereof) and knew it would flop. And it did. They ended up cutting the pricing to $199, but it was so roundly criticized that I seriously doubt they sold many of them.  They sold as many in a year that Apple sells of the iPad in a month.  If Blackberry had sold this initially at $199, they might have had a chance. 

Amazon has a very good product. The Kindle has revolutionized reading e-books for years to come.  They expanded it with the Fire, which I thought was fairly decent. They're smart, they're selling it at a break-even price to get it into as many hands as they can, but the app store which greatly enhances the functionality and usage of any given tablet, seems somewhat limited compared to Apple's App store.  As long as they keep pricing well under the iPad, they should continue to sell well.

The market is fragmented. However the iPad and iPad mini will still continue to sell well until a competitor undercuts their prices.  They will not win on the features. Whether you have an USB slot or a SD slot or this or that is not gonna matter. It's all about pricing.

Do you want a Lamborghini or a Honda?