Sunday, October 31, 2010

Location Apps For Keep Track of Love Ones On Halloween And Other Times

I don't know why in this day and age, parents would allow their children to venture out along. These are kids and we live in different times. Maybe this is why I don't have kids of my own.

If so and your child goes out tonight or any other night and is armed with a mobile device or smartphone, there are solutions available for you to keep traces of them via GPS or other location-bases apps.

Trick-Or-Tracker, an Android app is something that works pretty much as tracking app that allows parents or guardians to track their children wherever they are. It's a $100 app that does have a Halloween trial period.

On the iPhone, there is the Family GSP Tracker that has among other features, lets your love ones know that you're looking for them and lists sex offenders in the area. It runs from $3.99 to $5.99.

Here is an MSNBC video on this subject. I think this works for parents not just on Halloween but also for all times and events.



Are there other apps that work better for you that you're using for tonight?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Friday, October 29, 2010

Rechargeable Flashlights got This Halloween Weekend

Okay, parents and kids...and monsters and the platoons of Ironmen and Woodies and Buzzes, it's finally Halloween.

So how do you protect yourself in the darkness which you will eagerly go into? Well, chances are it's not vampires or the undead that we have to worry about but rather it's the very much living. Yeah, regular old humans.

There are going to be lots of kids in the neighborhood especially with Halloween falling on a weekend, even if it's a Sunday night.

So for mobile warriors, here's a tip. Charge up your mobile phones, iOS/Android devices, or other smartphones.

Then set the screen to full brightness and let them stay on linger than you might normal would. This will not really help as a flashlight but it can act as a signal to drivers that there are people in the vicinity.

There are apps that function as flashlights but I have never given them any thought so I don't know how well they work. I know that there is even an iPhone lighter app.

But the best way to stay safe is to carry a flashlight. Each chaperon should carry one. Maybe some of the little monsters as well.

I like the rechargeable ones that you can wind up to juice up the battery. 30 Seconds or so will power up the flashlight for extended used.

And you can get those from just about anywhere now.

So have a great, scary, and safe Halloween, my fellow mobile warriors!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Mobile Against Zombies and Other Ghouls

Halloween time and I am going to mix some scary fun with mobile goodness.

And so I got to thinking. Today, GPS and online maps plays a big role with travel and generally trying to escape from traffic.

It'll be no different when we few remaining humans try to avoid getting torn to shreds or having zombies go Happy-Meal on our brains.

More that just mobile chats and spotters, we need to have real time uplink to satellites. But that might not be feasible with the world falling apart and coming very close to the end.

So what's the solution? I have advocated this in the past.

Airships.

That's right. With airships, they are a cheap way for surviving humans to having our numbers reduced and vital to any operations to reclaims our world from these undead.

The airships stay in the air for days if not weeks at a time. And believe me when I tell you that air superiority is what's going to make a difference between survival or letting the planet whither away.

Other than communication what else can an airship do for us mobile warriors? Suppose we need to get from one safe harbor to another and the roads are blocked by the undead or dotted with human survivalists who aren't particularly interested in helping retake and populate the planet but wouldn't think for a second to kill you for your supplies and weapons.

Yeah, High up in the sky, it is much safer.

And with your iOS or Android devices, you can still find a way to communicate via white spaces routers or airborne cell towers with your base camp or the folks down on the ground.

Obviously, I would go with mobile devices that are light and has long battery lives. Suppose Apple releases new iPads next year with 12-15 hours of battery life per charge, it would prove your chances of survival great.

On the ground or in the air, you shouldn't have issues with power as I am sure there are plenty of solar chargers. Heck, I've got a couple of them at home to charge my iPhone and iPods. Nevertheless, I like the idea of having to go through longer periods between charges.

And technology with airship developments are currently progressing nicely. I am sure they can be outfitted with all assorted of antenna arrays for communication. Plus, you might consider outfitting your airship with thin solar cells to make your batteries last longer.

So where am I getting this from? I am not a game player but I do love thrillers and "World War Z" is the first zombie literature that I have ever came across. It's a quick read and easy to blow through it in a weekend.

Especially this Halloween weekend...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

SSD - A Must Have For Mobile Ruggedness

Upon learning that Apple will be going all out with SSD instead of traditional hard drives has me thinking that that the era of power efficient and relatively safer memory storage is upon us for every day mobile warriors and corporate drones.

Apple wasn't the first to come out with SSD but does that matter? Nor was Apple the first to have USB in the iMacs but that didn't matter either.

However, Apple made it okay to have USB in PCs and it was quickly adopted as a standard. And for SSD adoption, The MacBook Airs with SSD only options made it okay for for mass adoption for even consumer lines.

I imagine that by this time next year, Apple will have moved a majority of its macBook lines with SSD options. This will be followed by other PC makers, like Sony and its Vaio laptops.

Keep in mind though that hard drives are not going to go away for a long time. But for folks whose data are very important and requires more insurance from accidents, these excellent prices from Apple are welcoming news.

Personally, I think I've got another year left in my late-2008 unibody MacBook before I find that I need to move on. Plus, I've got my wonderful iPad that has quickly become my main go-to mobile device for work and play.

But if you're in The market now or will be soon, consider SSD options whether it's the MacBook Air or a Windows machine like the Viao.

Note: SSD while great still has issues with degradation over time. TRIM is built into Windows 7 while this support is still lacking in OS X. Perhaps Apple might have something coming in way of this beginning with SSD implementation in the new MacBook Airs.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Thursday, October 21, 2010

iWeb - Dead or Still Kicking?

The general impression from yesterday's Apple event, Back To Mac, was well received by everyone. There was a bit of everything for everyone. That is unless you're an iWeb fan.

I'll make this quick. I am going to have to go 100% to Rapidweaver if this doesn't pan out or Apple doesn't wow us with an update.

How long will I wait? Two there two deadlines. There is 90 days until Apple unveils the Mac App Store. Apple is supposedly selling individual iLife and iWork apps. I am hopeful that we might see iWeb or an app like it by Apple in the store.

The second deadline is the release of iWork '11. I am hoping that given Apple's embrace of mobile and HTML 5, there will be a brand new app that allows users to continue to support MobileMe going forward.

And honestly, without iWeb, I think lots of folks just might not renew their MobileMe subscription.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Apple Event: Will iOS Apps meet OS X?

My needs are simple as far as what I want from Apple on Wednesday. I don't mind being blown away but I sort want to see Apple move in the direction I think Steve Jobs and friends has been planning for years.

The full integration of iOS and OS X. For a few years since Apple made available the iOS SDK, there is something that has been working very well that no one has given it much notice unless you're an app developer and something that I was exposed to as I give programming a try.

The iPhone simulator. It works great and with the advanced multitouch pad and OS X gaining a lot of iOS features, it only makes sense for Apple to allow iPhone and iPad apps to run on Macs. This is a natural evolution

But it would be a revolutionary concept. And imagine the sales pitch with this one. Get a Mac and you can run iOS apps. Or got a Mac? You can download apps from iTunes and if you get an iOS device, you can take those apps on the go!

Is this going to happen? Frankly, this has just as much chance of happening as the Apple TV running apps, which a pretty much a lock.

I don't know if this will be a feature that Apple will unleash on Wednesday but the sooner the better. It would allow Apple to do battle on the mobile front and provide an additional arsenal in its assault on PC market.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Earnings and Apple's Mac Event

Perhaps it is a matter of timing that Apple's 4th quarter earnings and its Mac-focused event are so close to each other. Apple will report earnings on Monday while, presumably, Steve Jobs will go to work on Wednesday morning at 10AM PST to wow the world once again with new Macs and a OS X preview.

I don't remember a time when the two events are held so closely together. Maybe I am just being paranoid. My heart tells me that Apple will take care of Wall Street and tell them what they want to hear. But keep in mind that shortage of iOS devices even in the face of overwhelming demands may hamper sales even as Mac sales seemed to have not been affected by iPad cannibalization or the sagging economy.

My fear is that in the short-run, any less than blow-away numbers from Apple will give the uneducated knee-jerk reactionists in the media opportunity to write hit-bait posts on how demand for Apple products are no longer strong. And anti-Apple bloggers will be out in force. You can bet on it.

Or just the opposite will happen. Numbers will show that Apple has outpaced rivals and its stock price will reflect the reality that it is deserves to be the valued and valuable company in the world and that fact will be reinforced Wednesday morning on a fine cloudy day in Cupetino, California when Steve and the usual casts of executives march onto the stage and blow us away with new touch-based Macbooks capable of running iOS apps, 7" iPads, iLife and iWork 2011, and os X Lion.

And maybe "one more thing", T-Mobile and Verizon to carry the iPhone by November.

All wishful thinking I know. But let me have this one. I am enjoying a great Sunday in Los Angeles. Reality doesn't have to returning until Monday morning.


-- Post From My iPad

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Current State of Mobile Computing: Tablet or Laptop

Depending on who you talk to you and who you believe, the netbooks, perhaps even lsptops, are taking a sales hit because of the iPad.

Perhaps. Then there are those who are not so sure this is happen on a large scale. Given the potential that Apple may be on the verge of a $20 billion quarter and cuts on orders by dorm laptop and netbook makers, it has industry and mobile observers such as myself very excited.

Is this the beginning of the end of mobile computing as we know it?

More at Greenjava Mobility.

Friday, October 8, 2010

.Mac Homepage Discontinued on Nov 8, New iLife And/Or MobileMe Coming

Apple has made a lot of changes to MobileMe and has given folks ample time to move their contents out of .Mac homepage, which is why .Mac homepage will ease operations on November 8th. So this had led me to consider of iLife is coming soon there after and MobileMe improvements will be featured.

Rumors are abound that this may happen. Amazon has inadvertently posted placeholders for the new iLife product as well as a couple of books talking about a non-existent iLife update. And the currently version of the iLife is showing its age.

I'm a Mobile and iLife user, particularly iWeb to push my personal Greenjava website. I can use a whole host of new features to help me augment it. Looking at the bigger picture, it's about mobile for Apple these days. It's all about iOS.

Time to put up a wishlist on what I like to see and expect.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Clever Pricing For Mobile Gaming

For better or for worse, casual gaming is here to stay and gamers as well as developers have to live it.

Coming to an end are the days when developers can charge $30-40 a game. If you think you've got the game everyone is clamoring for, you can charge $15 for it like Square is doing with Final Fantasy on the iOS platform. The same goes for Android or WP7.

So how will the mobile gaming industry evolve and how will gamers change along with it?

Read more at Greenjava Mobile

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Monday, October 4, 2010

Blogging And Sharing So Much Easier

I've not written for a while now. Part of the reason is because I spend some time working on my Green Java site. It's not only a mobile interest site but other interests that I have.

Politics, green/healthy living, and coffee.

I have been trying to find a way do blog updates to GJ without being tied to my MacBook when I needs to do it. I use both Rapidweaver and iWeb and neither easily let's users remotely update.

I think I've found a way to do it. I'll continue to update Blogger but hopefully k can migrate over the Greenjava to ease my blogflow (yeah, I just made up this word.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

MacBook Air M2 - I Love It And Any Laptop You Get Will Always Be Right For the Time

The 2016 MacBook sitting off to the side still has some value as I gleefully starting using my MacBook Air M2 that I got for a decent price ...