AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

We know Steve Jobs will never release a netbook for the sake of doing it.  Nor is Apple's answer to the netbook the iPhone.  A couple of weeks or so ago, folks started comparing iPhone shipments to netbook shipments.  You'll have to excuse those people.  It's the Holidays.  We're in a recession.  We were all dying for news, rumors...anything from Apple or Mac related (little did we know that last week, Apple would stir up controversy with their Jobs-no-show-at-Macworld announcement). If you're looking for a netbook running OS X, MSI Wind remains the best solution.  For those will are willing to wait, this is Apple's $600-$700 netbook (I've reduced the price by $100 since November - but I can't go lower to $500 because it will be too close to the iPod Touch 32GB model).  Let's call it "iDevice". iDevice will take the form of a tablet.  Not clam shell like netbooks.  No keyboard. Run iPhone/iPod Touch OS. It'll do what it's sup...

There is an iPhone Nano.  There's also an iPhone Flip, flip phone for the iPhone.  With that out of the way, let's talk about the reality of such a device, the iPhone Nano, Nano for short in this post The iPhone 3G screen is just the right size, making the case easy to hold in your hand.  Now, with the Nano, we would naturally have to believe the screen is going to be quite a bit smaller.  The iPhone sports a 3.5" Multi-touch LCD screen.  Many other devices on the market with some sort of touch technology vary in screen size but one will never identify them as being small due to bulk and thickness.  Not to mention weight.  But coming from Apple, mobile users would have to consider a smaller screen, about 2.8" and just as think as the iPod Touch. First the screen .  Why 2.8"?  I did a basic search into Verizon's touch screen offerings from LG,  HTC, and Samsung.  They fall between 2.8" to 3.2".  The T-Mobile G1 also h...

This is just something I made up while chatting with Dave the Mobile Warrior on Skype last night about Apple's unexpected exit (unexpected from the standpoint of folks who were not graced to insider information).  But when Apple VP Phil Schiller takes the stage as the keynote speaker traditionally reserved for Steve Jobs, just what kind of position is he being put it?  So, we dreamt up a cool scenario for the last Macworld Apple will participate in. Schiller goes on stage and goes through his routine.  Great Christmas.  Great quarter they just had.  Billions made.  Then he tells folks the iMac, Mac Mini, and Mac Pros will all be updated.  Though it all, Phil gets forced ethusiastic applauses because of the impossible situation he's put under.  He knows it. But then he says, "we've got a special guest I like to bring out to talk about the next revolutionary product from Apple.  You all know him.  Steve Jobs!". Crowd goes wild...

I had planned on posting some updates about portable gaming over at Onxo but that's on hold for a bit as we absorb the great news about Konami's mobile plans for Apple's mobile platform. You read it correctly.  Four games from powerhouse Konami.  Big bad KONAMI!  What are the games? Silent Hill:  The Escape Frogger Dance Dance Revolution And here's the big one: Metal Gear Solid Touch! No word on when these games will be coming to an app store near us.  But this bit of news makes up for the sadness I feel from Apple pulling out of Macworld and knowing that Macworld 2008 was Jobs' last keynote.  Back to gaming. Sega's presence with Super Monkey Ball was a great coup for Apple.  But since then, we haven't had a lot of power house developers from Japan joining the iBandwagon.  And these games aren't just any lowend games.  These are legacy titles we're getting from Konami. This new development does help Apple make the case that the i...

Who to believe?  Some analyst believes there will be a netbook at Macworld 2009 or some facts that point to the contrary? Well, Computerworld is reporting an analyst who admitted that he has no fact to back up his assertion that there will be Apple-branded netbooks next month at the annual Mac event in San Francisco.  Backed up his line of reasoning well though. It's a lot alone the line of what Onxo (me and my fellow mobile warriors) believe about what Apple's answer to the netbook will be.  However, we're not likely to see anything new when Philip Schiller, Apple's senior VP gives the keynote, as indicated by Appleinsider.  You read it right.  Philip Schiller.  Get to know him.  Steve P. Jobs will not be delivering the keynote this year.  And that is exactly why it's very unlikely Apple will be introducing a new product line. Again, we believe desktop Macs, iMac, Mini, and Pro, will be updated.  And that'll be about it....

If a report from WSJ is correct, that may indeed be the case.  According to November computer data from NDP Group Inc.  Mac sales lost 1% compared to November of 2007 while the PC market grew 2% from the same period last year.  WSJ is reporting this as evidence that Apple has begun to suffer from the recession US consumer are going through and there is worries that this will carry into 2009. So, should be we worried for out favorite fruity consumer electronics company?  Well, my initial reaction was to think that WSJ was likely wrong in its reporting.  Something about the data they nickpicked to make Mac sales look bad compared to the rest of the industry.  Well, this is WSJ so I'm doubting that to be the case.  This isn't Marketwatch's Dvorak after all. Anyway, the official numbers from Apple is what count in January.  But given that Apple refreshed the Macbooks for Christmas (and the Holidays) but not the iMacs, that could have had an impa...

I have a MacWind, converted from the 10" MSI Wind Dave the Mobile Warrior helped me with.  He has one too although he's not too wild about it anymore.  I like it but there's nothing like working with a real Macbook.   More than that, after using the MacWind for a month, I realized Apple is not likely going to follow what everyone else is doing.  NOT just another netbook to run OS X.  Why?  Before I get into it, I really would like to hear from everyone about about.  Particularly other folks with a MacWind or MacEEE PC. Keyboard.  Imagine how little those keys are going to have to be now that Apple has gone completely with the new layout first seen in the Macbooks.   Small real estate.  One of the great experiences about using a Mac is the great resolution and the desktop.  On a 6-8" (I'll go on record now to say Apple will not come out with a 10" netbook) LCD screen, it's just too small. Battery life.  I get 4.5 hours runn...

I finally pulled the trigger.  I stopped thinking and acted on it. I got a new Macbook.  Which one?  Just the Macbook or the Macbook Pro?  Or the Air?  I will say this right now.  I like the Air or MBA to some. However, I don't like the fact that the battery isn't user-replaceable.  At least, not without a screwdriver.  Also, 1.86Ghz is okay with the new Nvidia GPU but I think I want to go with something faster. So, that leave the MB or the MBP.  I currently have a 15" Powerbook (1st gen Mac Mini, a power horse by the way, and MacWind), but I didn't think it was as portable as I like.  Coming in at 5.5 lbs, it a bit hefty when I've got keys, G1, a notebook, and miscellaneous items in my backpack, it can come out a bit heavy. On the other hand, the new MBP has a dedicated GPU.  And it can come in handy for games.  More importantly, it is future-proof when Snow Leopard comes out and OpenCL is implemented and prevalent (t...

Given the strides that the new unibody Macbooks has made in the graphics department with the Nvidia integrated graphics process, it is suffice to say that we should also see a change in the specs of some games to reflect the update. However, that has not been the case.  Checks on gaming sites like Inside Mac Games, publishers, and online stores that offer Mac games offered nothing.  In fact, no mention of Nvidia's 9400M at all.  I do a little gaming.  I used to play a lot of LAN games.  As someone who is on the sideline waiting to get into the market for one and can't decide on which model best suits my needs as far as some gaming, video editing, and a mix of writing, e-mail, and everyday Web work, I would like to know how today's gaming requirements compared to the Macbooks.  Resorting to Googling and combing through Mac-centric forums have helped but all are quite subjective due to the settings and tolerance of Macbook owners.  Some want s...

There is a flurry of new Apple speculations with the Internet going wild as one blogger or analyst talked about the CPU that will like going into the coming netbook from Apple. I don't know what it'll look like, what it can do, or what CPU will be powering it.  Suffice to say, Atom chips, from Intel and powers the millions of netbooks in the market, will not make it into Apple's answer to the netbook. So, let's go this new exciting (potentially revolutionary) mobile device called Access.  I wanted to call it iLife but then you'll asking isn't a suit of Apple applications called iLife?  So, Access it is.  Access because of the following reasons: Fully integrated with iLife version running on the OS X. Fully integrated with MobileMe. With Wi-Fi access and may be offered with 3G access from ATT.  Now, it is also entirely possible this may be subsidized later on.  It's is also entirely possible we may see LTE, WiMax, white spaces versions.  Steve Jo...

Well, not so much a debate but more about what to get.  Macbook with its integrated GPU but still much more powerful than anything we've seen for the Macbook line or go with the Pro version and the 9600 dedicated GPU. I spent some time over the weekend with both units as I haven't decided which works best for me. And the GPU played a big part as I also considered future-proofing my mobile investment.  Here is a post from Linden LAN from October (not long ago) that discussed the 9600M, 8600M, and the 9400M.  As you may already know, the 9600M is the flagship GPU in the MBP, the 8600M was the GPU in previous iterations of MBP, and the 9400M replaced the underpowered Intel IGP x3100 (Apple has passed on the current generation, x4500). There's a lot of debate over the Macbook with the 9400M, in good ways, not bad.  People generally love it and, yet, people also like numbers.  This GPU versus that GPU versus something else. Based on LL's way of looking at it, t...