AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

No one knows if Steve will be back as CEO of the company. I don't know either and I frankly don't are so long as he's still around to make the big decisions. And here's why I think Steve will be around for a long time to come. According to Information Week, a source familiar with Apple's government sales plan said Jobs and certain Apple executives were granted security clearance by the federal government. Why provide Steve Jobs clearance if he isn't coming back to Apple? You don't just grant security clearance like it's some kind of knighthood. And let's assuming for a sec that Apple is treating the NSA and the military like they treat the rest of us, basically, telling them Steve's health is a personal matter. I have to assume that for the folks fighting and trying to keep America safe, they would have some intel on the status of Steve's welfare before giving him security clearance. Finding out about Jobs' medical situation isn...

If you have bought a Mac in recent years, you'll notice OmniOutliner that comes with the Mac. The Omni Group has gone a step further today and made a few applications free for Mac users. This is a recession busting sort of thing but its greatly appreciated as far as I'm concerned. OmniWeb - I like the session saving feature. But I'll go with what I've already got on my desktop. OmniDictionary - not bad. I will be downloading this one. OmniDiskSweeper - always need more memory and space. OmniDazzle - I'll be passing on this one. I don't need more "dazzle" even though my Macbook can handle it. OmniObjectMeter - it's a good application for developers who are looking to optimize their applications. Not for everyone. I've downloaded OmniDictionary and OmniDiskSweeper. I've got Safari, Firefox, and, more recently, Flock. OmniWeb has come neat features but given the unqiue session saving is a good feature but it's not one that I nee...

Apple released Safari 4 beta here .   I'll be back later for some previews/reviews.  

No one really expected Apple to go all the way to Barcelona to introduce a new mobile device or update the iPhone. However, everything about smartphones at the MWC is about Apple. Over at Onxo , we discussed what Apple's competitors were doing to catch up the one-two punch of iPhone-iTunes. Just about every touch device was compared to the iPhone. Just about every app store was given a shakedown (even though none except Android Marketplace is operational) relative to the iTunes app store. It's was always Apple this. iPhone that. Here's my question: where is Apple? Seriously, right? This time last year, we were given an updated 16GB iPhone. The major update was the unibody Macbooks in October and sprinkled with the 17" Macbook Pro at Macworld. I'm tempted to say we're are going to get a slew of updates from Apple in March through October (usually the last month of updates from Apple) but in this economic condition, I don't know if that'll happen....

I totally get that people love their iPhone or want an iPhone if not for the fact that it exists only on ATT. I was reading a post on Verizon's LTE deployment and wishful thinking by TUAW (hey, I do that all the time - thinking wishfully) about the possibility of the iPhone working on Verizon's LTE network in 2010 instead of waiting for ATT to take it live in 2011. But here's the larger issue.  You go with the network you like or go with the iPhone and have to tolerate an arguably inferior network?  Well, that's the great thing about the iPod Touch.  You can get the iPod Touch with all the great features of the iPhone OS, iTunes, and the app store and then go with a Storm on Verizon or Pre with Sprint when it comes out.   I understand with the iPhone, you carry one single device.  That works the ideal situation.  What about folks are locked into non-ATT contracts or live in areas where ATT just plainly have no signal?  Since I've been trying out the G1 for the last ...

Assuming that Apple keeps the iPhone exclusively on ATT through 2012 as some have predicted, we are not looking at the iPhone gaining LTE wireless service (next generation wireless) until 2011.  Cult of Mac reports that ATT has said trials will begin in 2010 but no rollout until 2011.  So, what is an iPhone user to do?  Wait?  Upgrade now?   Actually now is the best time since a two-year contract will take  you through 2011.  Sure, it's mid-Feb now so you'll want to wait until June for the next iPhone revision.  Although, I did get my 16GB iPhone last Feb and loved every bit about it. Personally, 3G is quite good and I'm more interested in what new apps and features Apple is likely to impress us with than extra speed we get.  3G over Edge is already pretty good for now.  It's always the UI, OS, features, and designs that has put the iPhone head, should, and body above everything else on the market.   Via Cult of Mac

MacNN is reporting that Dataviz is readying its flagship product, Documents-To-Go, for the iPhone.  For folks who don't know about Dataviz, DTG is an application that a lot of Palm users are familiar with.  It's compatible with Microsoft Office data formats and allows users to create and edit documents on the go. Since the iPhone came out, there has been no office suite app for the iPhone.  We have different spreadsheet editors and word processors but nothing as unifying as DTG.  Perhaps one of the main reason is the lack of copy-and-paste function.  And yes, DTG for the iPhone will have copy-and-paste. Just last week, Google enabled spreadsheet editing for Google Docs for Webkit browsers.  So, for iPhone mobile warriors who need (want) to work on the go, the time is near. Please visit the following links for more details and pics.  Personally, I had hoped that iWork for iPhone would be available but from what I see, DTG is pretty cool and badly needed. MacNN MacCityNet You can...

With almost $30 billion in the back, this is what I would recommend ot Apple:  buy Sega.  What do you think? Yesterday, Cook was quoted as saying Apple has $16 billion more than they really need to run Apple effectively.  So, why not get into the gaming business with $3 billion cash?  It's about a quarter of work given the cash flow that Apple was able to put in the bank last quarter.  With exclusives from Sega for Apple TV, the iPhone platforms, and Macs, it stands to reason that Apple has a much better chance to really rock with gamers.  Outside of Nintendo, Sega, a former gaming hardware powerhouse, has been know to a great innovator in games and hardware.  Before Nintendo came out with the Wii, a lot of folks thought Apple should go in take Nintendo off the market.  I think the same can be said of Sega. Plus, Sega has a brand that is known throughout the world.  Sure, Sega can still develop for other platforms but with Sega games in...

It hurts when  you read the title of this post, doesn't it?  Well, I had to hear it directly from an acquaitance.  To make the story short, it was really his fault for putting himself in that situation.  I won't get into that. He called me up and asked what I know about lost iPhones.  Well, there were a few cases like this on the Web so we kind of have something to go on.  The guy lives in Taiwan so I'm not sure how the subscriber-provider-Apple relation is like.  To my knowledge, they don't even have an Apple store. I'll keep you updated on developments.  I've asked him to make sure he did in fact register with Apple or his provider and give them a call and provide them with the IMEI number and serial number.  The hope is that someone will log on with it and they'll be able to track the thief down. Any tip will be appreciate by the iPhone mobile warrior community at large.

Over the Holidays, I had a $100 coupon for signing up with Audible.com and some leftover credits on Amazon from a while back. So I figure since I'm going to give my jailbroken iPhone away, I'm gonna need a new iDevice. I was torn between the Classic and the iPod Touch. I ended up with an iPod Touch (8GB - it's a downgrade from the 16GB in my iPhone) because I felt the 2nd generation iPod Touch had a lot of offer expecially with the built-in features - Nike+ and voice recording. And let's not fool ourselves. Apple is prepping for the iPod Touch and the iPhone platform in general for much more than music and games. Now, 8GB verus 120GB in the Classic. I only considered the Classic because I felt Apple may not continue making it beyond this year. iPod Touch stands at 32GB. We can potentially see a 64GB model in late 2009. Apple might just say "okay, it's got enough storage for 95% of the users and we want to move everyone to the new iPhone/Touch platform...

Macworld reports that Apple pulled Duck Hunt from the app store at Nintendo's request.  Frankly, I'm very surprised by how long it took for Nintendo to make this request. However, the developer will provide an updated version without infringing on Nintendo's copyright - meaning removing the graphics and music. Now, sports games.  Today, Macworld wrote an article about football games for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  I thought "wow, how could I have missed those games completely".  I have been complaining about the lack of sports games. Well, it turned out it's not real football like what we see on the DS or PSP.  No Madden.  Still, it's a great post that I recommend readers head over to read.  Instead of real football, it's finger football or paper football.  Basically, you flick something between a graphical pair of hands set up to look like the goal post to see if you can make the "field goal". There's a game called "X'...

Nothing major here but I just want to share my addiction to blogs and updates on all things Apple. Typically, we get our regular updates.  I'm not going to mention sites I visit here and now because I'll inevitably leave some out and that's unfair.  Suffice to say, I go through a lot of them as I've got them in my Google Reader. But come weekends, I start to sweat, shake, feeling something's not quite right.  I've provided some posts here but I ended up having a very busy weekend. On Apple will start writing more weekend posts to carry everyone through until Monday.  Meanwhile, I've updated daily headlines on general mobile issues as well as Apple specific posts that I think you would also be interested in reading about.  So, visit Mobile Digerati .  I've also started a section on mobile gaming that I know is going to be huge in 2009.

I was at a friend's house last night watching the pay-per-view UFC.  It was my second UFC party.  I had a good time.  Pizza, chicken, drinks (soda, smoothies, Gatorade - I don't drink).  Bunch of guys getting together to have fun.   It was when I was in the kitchen looking at everyone and I realized how mobile tech has permeated through a lot of our lives.  Laptops (a couple of Macbooks and Macwinds) dotted the living room while smartphones orbited them.   Folks were connected to my friend's Wi-Fi network surfing the web - Facebook, news, UFC updates.  There were texting, twittering, and emails flying back and forth.  But of course there was the main event. The UFC fight.  None of that distracted from what we were doing - watching some great fights.  I honestly don't care too much for it.  We could be hang out to watch a couple of DVDs and I would be fine with that.  It was about hanging out. It was when I wa...