AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Unless Apple can make some arrangements, it looks like there is going to be shortage for unfilled iPhone 4 demands for the rest of 2010 as Apple is unable to get enough of the touchscreends. This is information from MacObserver . Their source is thestreet.com . While I don't take too seriously (they report 4M planned production a month. Only Apple has that number. No one else does), the current shortage does give some credence to their report. So if I were you and you want an iPhone 4, just pre-order, and go into the store on launch day and every day after that to see if you can get your hands on one.  That's my absolute best suggestion.  May ATT orders were cancelled and orders from Radio Shack such as mine are no longer guaranteed to come in on the 24th. At least I've got my iPad.  Oh, there's a waiting list for that too.

I would like to thank Ron Artest's psychiatrist for a job well done. -- Post From My iPad

We know that Apple will take down MobileMe for a few hours tonight. It could just be something routine. Regular maintenance. Lord knows that there is still a lot of work to be done. But there have been talk about this being something more than just working out the kinks. I don't know. But I hope that parts of the MobileMe will be made free like e-mail at the very least. Bur more needs to be offered to iPhone users. This would an opportunity for Apple to show case more of it's technologies and innovations to traditionally non-Mac users. You know, the PC guys. -- Post From My iPad

I'm on the camp that T-Mobile is likely to get the iPhone next before Verizon. Two reasons why. T-Mobile uses GSM like ATT and that really says it all. Plus, T-Mobile is the smallest of the major national networks in the US and they're usually pretty open to "experimentation" if you will. And another point. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network is live now for 80 million users and will expand to 180 by the end of 2010. Going this route is easier than the CDMA route. The other reason is that Steve Jobs probably doesn't like the way VW spurn Apple in the past and the Droid campaign last year didn't help much. Having said that, Apple will have VW iPhones because as much as Apple like to hold grudges, it knows it is in a major mobile with multiple competitors with one or two with as much innovative energy as it does. Still, moving T-Mobile ahead of VW for a quarter of two just to sting Verizon a bit is fine by me. So, I'm still betting on T-Mobile because of ...

It isn't unusual for Apple to change names of a product. And Game Center, being billed as a social gaming network, can grow beyond gaming and Apple is likely to change the name as it becomes a full fledged social network. That's what it is going to become over time. A full network but likely much with more to offer than anything we have in existence today. You want a couple of examples? Look at what Apple has done to the mobile market. And also look at what it plans to do with iAd in advertising. One of the reasons I started thinking about this is because I've made a couple of long distance friends while playing Chess With Friends and Words With Friends. Even with such a rudimentary set of social interactions, I come back to it again and again. It is absolutely rare such happens now but as more developers integrate Game Center into their gaming apps, developers will discover that it is not only gaming apps that can benefit from a social network. And users wil...

Okay, when I mean social interaction, I don't mean a hot girl at Starbucks coming over to have her with me, well, no, I mean my iPad.  No, I'm talking about the iPad as a vehicle to break people away from their laptops with its keyboard and using the iPad as a means for sharing. Imagine trying to show someone sitting next to you a website or a doc, you'd have to turn over the laptop that may be tethered to an outlet. But with an iPad, it's like handing over a piece of paper, book, or a notepad.  It's that easy. Also, I imagine more games that are like digital board games where families and friends an kind of gather to play together.  This is also implied in this USA Today article and it hit it on mark.  And as the article said, it's not just about gaming.  It's about interacting.  People can flip things back and forth, handing the iPad from one person to another. When I was in college, we used to take breaks from studying for finals or meetings by p...

Apple and its partners have pretty much exhausted its initial allotment of the new iPhone 4. However, if you're still interested in getting one on launch day, stay tuned to what Apple may have to say.  I wager many of the pre-orders may have be claimed. Furthermore, if history is any indication, there may be a limited supply of the iPhone for walk-ins.  When the iPad launched, there was "enough for everyone" who wants one. T-Mobile in Germany suffered through the same issues in the US after seeing a 10X increase in demand compared to last year's largely popular 3GS. T-Mobile USA .  Here's an interesting tidbit.  T-Mo announced it will be bringing HSPA+ (21Mbps) to close to 80 million users by the end of June and will blanket 180 million users by the end of 2010.  Many, including myself, strongly believe Apple will being bring the iPhone over to T-Mobile. It would make sense now that T-Mobile has also suggested their 3G network is highly scalable and ha...

It's pretty much hit and miss for anyone trying to order an iPhone 4 online.  Mostly, it's misses as the server connection would time out. So the best way is likely to go to Radio Shack if you're fortunate enough to live or work near one.  And if you don't but really want an iPhone 4 on launch day, drive there. I decided to go there after having issues with both Apple and ATT's online ordering.  It's just brutal.  Then around 10AM PST, I drove to the strip mall where there was an ATT store as well as a Radio Shack. The ATT store had a long long line.  I was in despair.  So I decided to see if Radio Shack was accepting pre-orders.  Before I left for the little iPhone pre-order trip, some folks were saying Radio Shack would not be part of the retail stores accepting pre-order.  Maybe this is why there was no line there. When I walked in there was one guy in front of me.  He had just came from being the second to the last person at the ATT store...

In reading a CNet article about how iOS features can make it on to the Macs, I thought of how Apple can use the iPhone to sell more Macs than the halo-effect the iDevices have already generated for the rest of Apple's business. Allow anyone who owns an iDevice, including the iPhone, iPad, or the iPod Touch, to use their apps on the Mac and only the Mac. For the hundreds of thousands if not millions of Macbook owners, wouldn't it be great to use our apps with our Macbooks with the multitouch trackpads? This would sell tons of Macbooks. But hey,I don't to leave out iMac, Mac mini, and the Mac pro either. There was talking last week of some sort of a multitouch pad for the desk-bound Macs. This pad will enable every Mac to use iOS4 apps. Once more, Apple will be smart to make this a Mac specific feature. The question is how likely is this to happen? Not likely. But as the saying goes, improbable but not impossible. At D8 and during his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs s...

In the title of this post, what is almost there?  Well, I'll get into that a bit. Right now, Appleinsider is reporting that the iPhone 4 will be getting VGA-out just like the bigger brother (or cousin).  And as the article aptly pointed out, there is no HDMI support.  Yet.  I'm sure Apple will get it to eventually once whatever it is that is holding things back for Apple are worked out.  I'm guessing it might have something to do with the power use. Of course, I don't have a device that supports HDMI and even if I did, I don't have an output device (HDTV) to use it with.  So, I can't attest to how well such a device might work or how the battery life will end up being. Having said that, this is a very incredible development.  This is where I get to the "amost there" part.  And for Mac campus, relax.  Take a deep breath.  Here goes. The iOS4 and iDevices are progressing towards the natural mobile evolution of becoming computing un...

A developer from China goes to Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference at Cupertino's invitation. So he comes to SF and ends up getting mugged and his IPad gets damaged during the commission of the assault. So what does Apple do? They hooked him up with a new iPad never mind that the iPad isn't even officially available on the Chinese market. That right there is create PR. I am sure this was leaked to the Chinese and international media. Great for the developer and even better for Apple right? It's not over. Steve Jobs emailed the guy to wish him a safe journey home. Contrast this to when an ATT subscriber emailed ATT's CEO and got a cease-&-desist letter for his trouble. So, Chinese developer dude, on behalf of all peace-loving and mild-mannered Americans, I apologize for your experience. But you certainly picked the right mobile platform to develop for and, while I rather see no one s victim of this kind or any other kind of crime, I am glad this happened ...

I don't want to get ahead of myself here but there is something I want to share with you. Tmo-News got a hold of what looks like a comparison chart between three of T-Mobile's top existing mobile devices and the iPhone 4 (except in the picture, it is that of the 3GS). Now, that could be just what is it: a comparison chart. Or is it? It doesn't seem to be making any disparaging remarks about the iPhone. Rather, it seems to be playing up both the strengths of iPhone 4 and iOS4. The three devices also in the chart are myTouch Slide (lame because it's using two-year old tech), HTC HD2 (lame because it's using last decade's OS), and Garminfone (no comment because I honestly know nothing about it but welcome it to the market because more competition, the better). As with other comparisons released by, say, Verizon, Verizon make sure not to make the iPhone sound good at all (like what "Droid does"). Not one single good thing about the iPhone at al...

All everyone has been talking about is the FaceTime feature and the sexy new look of the iPhone. So, let's talk about the new display. 960X640 Officially called by Apple as the "Retina Display" 4X the pixels in the same 3.5" screen. 4X the contrast 326 pixels per inches, make it virtually difficult for the human eye to see from 18 inches away.  It's about the right range when one holds the iPhone from one's face. IPS - same technology as in the iPad:  in-plain switching More durable, scratch-resistant glass - used in helicopters and high-speed train Finger-print resistant - sort of There are other technical details that we don't need to bother ourselves with other than that it's just absolutely gorgeous.   However, in the last week, there have been back and forth debate about the quality the Retina Display and whether Steve Jobs' claim at 326dpi is higher than the 300dpi is more of his reality distortion field. Does that matter? It...