Three-terabits-per-second Internet? Yes Please. →

From IEEE Spectrum:

The light that zips data across the Internet’s backbone used to stop a long way from the data’s final destination. Now it goes all the way to your home. Why not go the last step and take the light all the way to the computer or TV, projecting it through the air over the last few meters and only converting it to an electronic signal at the end?

Let's skip that oh-so-slow Google Fiber and go straight for the good stuff: beaming data-laden light all throughout your house. 

Now I'm just trying to decide if I'm more excited about Nikola-Tesla-style wireless power or light beam Internet. Who am I kidding? It's three terabits! Light beam Internet ALL THE WAY.

LG's Fancy, Full Metal (and Plastic?) Smartwatch →

LG says it's targeting "a sophisticated and cosmopolitan wearer" with the LG Watch Urbane (yeah, that's what it's called).

LG Electronics

It's pretty good looking and it has features (barometer, compass, gyroscope, Android Wear) that make it worth upgrading to a smartwatch. Hey, it can even measure your heart rate and pulse. But here's what concerns me: the thing's got a P-OLED Display. That "P" at the beginning of "OLED" stands for "plastic" ... as in not glass plastic. I don't know of any "sophisticated and cosmopolitan" wearers who are going to trade up sapphire crystal lenses for plastic. 

Regardless, we'll get our first real look at the thing during Mobile World Congress. I wonder how much a plastic-displayed smartwatch will cost — hopefully less than the chemically strengthened glass at the low-end of the Watch lineup.

Is Apple Really Planning to Sell a Car? →

The Financial Times:

People familiar with the company said the background of the people Apple is hiring — including automotive designers and vehicle dynamics engineers — and the seniority of the executives involved suggest a car could be in the works.

I’m just not sold. Apple execs regularly tout the company’s ability to say, “no.” Apple gets into markets where it’s certain its products will be superior to all others. Without a facility for manufacturing cars, can Apple really compete?

Not to mention Tim Cook reiterated a sentiment from the late Steve Jobs during the Goldman Sachs conference Tuesday:

We haven't been a hardware company … since I've been with Apple. And I'm not a historian, so I can't tell you about the beginning of time, but I don't really think Apple was ever a hardware company, even at the beginning of time.

I might be jumping to some kooky conclusions here, but I’m about 95% sure cars are hardware.

Does Apple really need to design and build a car in order to market its CarPlay technology? I don’t think so. 

And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about Apple, the company’s not afraid to go overboard to get things right. It’s part of what makes Apple so successful. Hiring "automotive designers and vehicle dynamics engineers" could simply be about gleaning a deeper understanding of automobiles for improved CarPlay services.

And yet, I will be in the market for a new car in a few years. If this report from The Wall Street Journal is correct, maybe we will see an electric iCar (or Car) after all:

Apple has several hundred employees working secretly toward creating an Apple-branded electric vehicle, according to people familiar with the matter. They said the project, code-named “Titan,” has an initial design of a vehicle that resembles a minivan.

If Jony Ive wants to make me a "space gray" aluminum unibody crossover, I’m not mad at him. Just no gold, please.

Apple to Pull an Apple on Music Streaming Services →

Cult of Mac:

Jimmy Iovine has devoted recent weeks to meeting senior execs at major and indie labels to talk about the new music service that will launch by summer at the latest and come alongside a major redesign of the iTunes Store as the company struggles to adapt to decline music sales.

Looks like the fruit company is set to pull an Apple on the music streaming market. Yes, there are tons of music streaming services out there, but if Apple gets this right (especially with a little added insurance), it could easily become the go-to music service.

That Beats acquisition is starting to pay off.