AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

“There will be a special guest…” is the only thing that is mentioned on the invitation for Apple’s 2025 special event.  And on the day of the keynote, Tim Cook goes on stage and tells everyone just how Apple just added another $30 billion in cash just in the last quarter.  He makes a joke about how a Starbucks grande latte now costs $15 and money ain’t what it used to be and receive a chuckle from the audience. Then he said that Apple has been working on something really special and it would change just about every industry and market in the world – military, labor, and even education.  Audience is quiet, on the edge of their seat, all waiting in anticipation.  They expect Tim Cook to bring on Phil Schiller to unveil this next Apple product.  But he doesn’t. Tim goes on to talk about the industrial revolution and the automobile and then it’s about the telephone and personal computer.  He spoke fondly about the old iOS devices – iPhones and iPads.  A...

The question to the title of this post is absolutely.  And there is precedent for this as well.  And should Apple go through with giving away Mountain Lion and maybe charge on a biannual basis or whenever they figure the upgrade is big enough to warrant a charge. And Mountain Lion is a bit upgrade from Lion.  However, this is a sense of urgency in this.  Apple is on a roll in both the mobile and PC market - growth beyond anything I expected.  I'm not alone in this.  Giving away Mountain Lion will add fuel to Apple's success in 2012. Furthermore, Apple can really mess things up for Google and Microsoft.  First, Chrome OS, while still trying to find a footing in the PC market, can further be disrupted by Apple's own OS improvements.  It's not the same segment of the PC market that Apple and Google but every bit of goodwill that Apple generates help.  Media attention on Mountain Lion and the fact that it'll be free could generate a halo ef...

Update:  note that in the invitation, the iPad depicted has no home button...interesting... Okay, it's official.  Apple will unveil the next iPad update next week, March 7th, in San Francisco. Really, need not say more.  Anything else will be speculation.  It was rumored a few weeks back that it would be on the 7th and this mornnig, CNBC tweeted as such.  But this invitation to the chosen ones confirmed it. And yesterday, we also speculated that it is possible that Apple could charge a premium for Retina Display.  I still think it's possible Apple can charge more for it but at the same time, it could also be something Apple puts out just to throw everyone off. Personally, as an average mobile warrior, I am hoping that Apple will keep things the way they are.  Meaning, $499 for the low-end iPad and up.  Maybe keep the iPad 2 around just to mess with the low-end of the tablet market and Android competitors. Then the next question...

One of the highlight features for the upcoming iPad, iPad 2S or 3, is the Retina Display that it'll certainly sport.  So, word on the Internet now is that it'll cost more than the current iPad 2 baseline.  Some are guessing that Apple will charge an additional $70.  Others think it'll be $80.  Me?  I think it'll be a nice round figure:  $100. Now, I don't like to traffic in Apple rumors (though I enjoy reading them when they sound plausible, come from reputable sites, and does not come from DigiTimes), in this case, we can speculate about Retina Display pricing.  And I reckon the new high resolution displays are difficult to make, lower yields (meaning more waste), and is not something Apple's competitors are capable of matching at this moment. So, a premium, $70 to $100 more, isn't out of the question.  Make no mistake.  I'm as disappointed as you if our speculation turns out to be true.  This is it leads me to believe that Apple wi...

Apple is a premium brand.  However, it’s not the same thing as saying that Apple products cost more than competing devices or computers.  Rather, it’s about Apple’s unwillingness to compromise.  The “premiumness” is about Apple’s talented teams of designers, programmers, and engineers making the best products they can.  That is what makes Apple such a sought after brand and why people line up year after year to buy its products. So, we learn now that Apple’s iPhone is not doing well in countries where carriers do no offer subsidies.  In fact, Android smartphones had take Apple to school when it comes to market-share.  So what? There are going to be many analysts and tech pundits who will push for Apple to release a cheaper iPhone to address those market.  Screw that.  If Apple could not lower it self to make a PC at the $500 price point that was not a piece of junk, what makes anyone believe that Apple will make a $200 or even a $300 smartpho...

Mobile World Congress has started and leaks are already happening.  And guess what, tablets are huge this year and it should not be a surprise to anyone if tablets get more attention than smartphones.  After all, this is the year when Google gives it another shot at the iPad while Microsoft makes a very risky bet, albeit a necessary one, by making Windows 8 its chief competitor to the iPad. Take the quad-core tablets powered by Nvidia's Tegra 3 chip that will soon flood the market with many Android tablet makers using specs to help them muscle in to take some marketshare.  It's likely many Taiwanese companies will try to outspec competitors on similiarly pricted tablets.  What's interesting is the response from the top tier tablet makers. More at  Greenjava .

It's that time of the year again. Daylight savings is coming and and heat. At least in Calfornia, we have been having quite a warm winter and I don't see that changing much. To top that off, we are having quite a ride at the gas pumps. So, I've tooled up my bike, make sure everything is working as it should, and take it out today. So, I'll be looking to start up my recording of how much money I'll be saving by biking insteading of driving around my SUV. And where does mobile fit into all this? Our smartphones are yesterday's note pad. I used to use a little note book to record my bike rides in school, both high school and in college. It was neat to see just how much money I've saved over time because of all this. And since I've been looking for an app to do do just this, maybe I ought to write an app to do this for myself.

There is a spectrum crunch that is creating problems for users and the wireless companies.  What’s causing the spectrum crunch in the US?  According to CNN, the following are the main causes: Leading off is iPhone, iPad, & other mobile devices like Androids that are using more data than expected. Also the adoption rate of these mobile devices have increased. Inept government regulation – what used to work doesn’t anymore and the FCC has not moved fast enough Industry protectionism like the TV broadcast industry trying to wall off their spectrum. Hoarding – there are spectrums out there that are not being used.  Dish Network, we’re looking at you. How much of this can be fixed quickly isn’t known.  We can use more Wi-Fi but all of this is giving carriers reasons to ration and cap wireless use – thus driving up costs for end users like us mobile warriors. The problem isn’t really the users but a combination of carriers, industry players, and the governm...

First, let me say that what I’m predicting here is way in no way based on anything I’ve read or have been told.  This is just my own musing on how Apple can get iPads into the hands of million of students across the US or any other country that might be interested in giving their students the best opportunities that mobile computing can give today.  At the end of this post, I’ll reveal what I believe Apple can charge for it. Each iTexbook for Apple is going to cost about $15 a textbook.  And from K-12, we are talking anywhere from 4 to 6 textbooks per pupil.  That’s comes out to about $60 to $90 per student per year.  And let’s suppose that each student will be assigned an iPad that is good for three to four years.  Maybe even five. Now, let’s do the math.  At three years, that means the textbook revenue per student comes out to $180 to $270 per student.  Apple’s 30% is about $54 to $86.40 per student.  If you extend the iPad lease to 4 ...

I’ve just begun to play with Mountain Lion, OS 10.8, Apple’s next update to the Mac operating system that includes many iOS specific features like Messages and quite frankly, changes to key features with iCloud integration.  One feature that appears to be missing from all this is Siri.  Granted, Siri is still missing from the iPad 2, an oversight that I hope Apple will rectify with the next iPad release.  But would it be stupendous if Apple also makes Siri available to the Macs as well? I am thinking not just from a fan standpoint but also from a competitive standpoint in the mobile marketplace.  Windows 8 will be out by the third quarter of 2012 and tons of tablets and laptops that run Microsoft’s latest and greatest OS will be flooding the market. Right now, I think most analysts and bloggers are just concentrating on the meaning of Apple’s surprising and cryptic preview of Mountain Lion and pour over what’s there, and not what isn’t there like Siri.  ...

We've seen the Android 4 and what it is doing with the Galaxy Nexus - and anyone without the Nexus  simply will have to wait, either for the hardware makers to make Android 4 available as an update or to wait for new hardware like the Samsung Galaxy III to be on the market.  And while Android has done great in the smartphone market, Android tablets have not.  In fact, it has been the Kindle Fire, which really isn't an Android tablet given what Amazon has done to the OS, that has helped stem the iPad tide. This is why we need the Nexus tablet more than ever.  And there are many reasons why a Nexus tablet is so important.  Again, Apple continues to push ahead with the iPad and the next version, the iPad 3, is likely just weeks away.  And as much as I like the Galaxy Tab 8.9, Samsung for whatever reason is pricing them right up there with the iPad and has limited success as far as market-share goes. Furthermore, Windows 8 is coming and if it does well, we...

Let's be clear about the settings for Google using a vulnerability in Safari that allows itself and other online advertisers to set cookies even when the user has explicitly disallow third-party cookies to be uploaded.  Google acted like a hacker in this.  Forget about the technical details of how this happened.  They did it, got caught, and came up with the only explanation they have:  the opportunity was there and we took it.  And Apple is at fault for allow this to happen because this vulnerability is only inherent with Safari, not even with Chrome or Android's browser which shares the same Webkit framework as Apple's own browser, Firefox, or Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Now, Congress is looking into  this matter .  The thing is that Apple could have made this all go away had they come up with the patch to plug this old from the start.  I can't understand how Apple could have possibly not know about this. So far, Apple has stay customari...

First of all, we’re been pecking on our 3.5” iPhone screen for years now and we’re doing just fine.  On top of that, Steve Jobs, who’s known for misdirection on what Apple will or will not ship, said that we would have to file down our fingers just to use the icons on them useless 7” screens. Well, as limiting as those 7 incher screens are as far as screen real estate goes, I can life with a 8 or 9 in because I’ve tried it with the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and it works great. So, we’ve got years of great multi-touch experience on 3.5” iPhones, not just one finger touch and proof from Samsung that their 8.9” tablet works great, what is keeping Apple from releasing an 8” tablet? Oh, them fingers that need to be filed down?  Don’t worry.  8” iPads would be great for kids.  First, they’ll probably be cheaper to make and sell.  On top of that, those grade-school kids have little hands and fingers.  I’ve been them on my two, five, and eight years old nephews and s...

This is just my prediction:  Apple will eventually take over Twitter and integrate it more into its ecosystem for its Mac and mobile users.  So, folks who want dividends, sorry, I hope you don’t get it.  I rather have Apple spend its money in this manner. How did I come to this conclusion?  Well, of all the social media properties out there, only Twitter seems to be more open and less about selling user information than the likes of Facebook, My Space (yes, they’re still around), or Google+.  The reason is because Twitter users, more than anyone else, are more open with their tweets knowing that what they broadcast is for general consumption. On Facebook, your updates may be for your friends or a group of friends on a list but Facebook still sell that information to the highest bidder.  The same could be said of Twitter but the vast major of Twitter users don’t go turning on the feature only their followers or a subset of their followers to get their u...

For many of you, you might be on a Mac running Lion or a variant of the Leopard OS, regular or snow.  But today, Apple unveiled "Mountain Lion", an update to Lion that was released almost a year ago.  It gained many new iOS features like iMessage and greater iCloud integration.  Oh, and for gamers, Game Center is coming your way. I've left my Macbook Air at home backing things up while downloading Mountain Lion.  You'll have to be an Apple developer in order to do that. I'll check back with actual user notes later this evening.  I can't way to try out iMessage.  Oh, by the way, iMessage is free to download right now . You' don't need to be a developer in order to do that.  So, go give it a go!

Bad Apple!  That’s about all we can say about the Twitter accessing user contact information without telling people about it and without asking for permission first.  What’s up with that, Apple?  This is just plain stupid and wrong. And here is Twitter’s response after getting caught red-handed:  “We want to be clear and transparent in our communications with users. Along those lines, in our next app updates, which are coming soon, we are updating the language associated with Find Friends — to be more explicit. In place of ‘Scan your contacts,’ we will use “Upload your contacts” and “Import your contacts” (in Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for Android, respectively).” (Source:   Media Bistro ) Seriously, this is the type of behavior I expect from Facebook, maybe even Google, but certainly not Twitter, Apple’s iOS social partner. What now?  Certainly, apps like Twitter and Path last week should never have had access to user contacts with their explici...

I saw my first Google Wallet payment system over the weekend at a gas station of all places.  There are probably more in my area that I am not aware of.  But let’s be honest, Google, for most folks, is about search and gmail.  Androids they know about but that’s about it.  And even with the attention given to the Galaxy Nexus with its NFC feature, there simply isn’t enough of them out there for merchants to begin rolling out mobile payment systems. Even a leading Android blog,  Droid-Life , admits that until Apple has an iPhone featuring NFC will mobile payment actually begin to take off.  Just ask Starbucks about their app for mobile payment.  It’s taken off as more and more iPhone users embrace it.  Helps that you get rewards for using it. Unless Google is willing to “pay” or reward users to use NFC to pay for goods and services and has enough devices with NFC capability to reach a critical point, it’ll be a long time before I can pay for m...

Apple is in a dogfight with a small money losing company called Proview in China that claimed to own the “iPad” trademark in China.  And now, they’re looking to milk it with a Chinese legal system that is less about law and more about who you know and what political points can be scored in the long run.  And let’s not forget that there’s a transfer of power in Beijing at this moment.  Not sure if that’ll have an impact. Here’s a summary of this.  Apple bought the rights to the trademark “iPad” worldwide from Proview’s Taiwanese counterpart.  Proview in China said that sale doesn’t include the use of the name in China.  Hence, the lawsuit that for the moment looked to be looking good for Proview as it has won a case against Apple.  Apple is appealing, obviously. Now, Proview is looking to exert pressure on Apple by requesting that China ban export of iPads.  The legal details aren’t important to us mobile warriors.  What’s important is ho...

No one should be surprised by what wireless carriers or providers do anymore.  A contract isn’t a contract like the old days when they’re allowed to change them on the fly.  Or contracts that say they can change terms on customers whenever they want. This MSNBC post that customers are surprised by AT&T’s move against unlimited data strikes me as disingenuous because the writer cannot possibly believe the crap AT&T is giving him for the article.  This isn’t about bandwidth or anything of that nonsense that AT&T used to try to buy T-Mobile. It’s about money and control. The industry lost their control when the iPhone-lead and then Android waves hit them.  We’re used to doing wireless a certain way and they want to control that.  Furthermore, they want to milk as much as they from users as they risk becoming the dumb pipes they deserve to be. Why?  Well, the wireless industry was slow to react when Apple and Google assaulted the wireless mar...

Interesting note here about mobile search.  By 2016, a majority of searches will take place on mobile devices, specifically, wirless over smartphones.  AllthingsD suggests that a Bernstein report excluded tablets.  Had that been included, we may well see search on mobile, including smartphones, tablets, and devices like the iPod touch, move ahead of traditional desktop searches even before that.  Perhaps by 2014 or 2015 at the latest. ATD goes on to suggest this is what Apple and Google is fight over.  I think its only one aspect of the larger mobile war.  After all, the mobile market isn’t just about searches.  Rather, searches will become only a small part of the growing and ever-changing mobile experience.  Even app uses will continue to evolve. Rather than replacing Google with Bing or even something else, Apple will do what it does – and no one really knows what that is.  Siri would be my guess. Apple and Google used to be good fr...

Apple should and probably will make the iPad 2 available even after introducing the iPad 3 in the next 4 to 6 weeks.  That is almost a certainty given the educational focus that Apple wants starting with the special education event in January with the focus on etextbooks and iBooks Author. After introducing the iPhone 4, Apple kept the iPhone 3GS on the market with a $100 price cut to entice mobile warriors who are unwilling to shell out $200 for the iPhone 4.  That was in 2010.  In October of 2011, Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S at the price points of the original iPhone 4, pushed the iPhone 4 into the 3GS spot, and gave the iPhone 3GS out for free. How about the iPad 2?  At what price point should Apple make the iPad 2?  Cutting $100 and make the iPad 2 available starting at $399 is a natural move.  It'll be something that is expect from Apple. But I really would like Apple to go lower, not for my sake.  For the moment, I plan on keeping my origi...

I'm not saying that the iPad 3 is coming.  Nor am I saying the iPad 2S is coming.  I simply don't know what's coming but I do know that Apple is up to something.  And if you're a tech fan or fellow mobile warrior, you probably know that Apple has released a new iPad in the late winter or early spring timeframe.  So, I think I'm am not too far off if I say that Apple is going to be releasing something in the next 4 to 6 weeks. This four to six weeks is just enough for me to be within the ball park.  The original iPhone introduced by Steve Jobs on January 27, 2010.  However, preorders did not start until March 12th and did not start shipping until April 3rd to long, long lines.  I know.  I was there. The iPad 2 was unveiled on March 2, 2011 and did not start shipping until March 11, 2011. For the next iPad update, I think I am within that ballpark.  It's unlike that Apple will delay its release by months the way it did last year with the ...

I've used iMovie on the iPhone and iPad and it's great.  I like it a lot.  And I'd like it even more if I had an ounce of creativity for making music and video.  Alas,  I don't but you know what, that might not really matter.  iMovie is really easy to use and this week, Avid Studio from Avid was released for the iPad. So, I pose this question: has the iPad hit puberty?  And the tablet market is due to explode as professional mobile warriors, particularly the creative sort, find more innovative uses for tablets and realize their full potentials.

The Galaxy Note running Android from Samsung could well be a silent hit in ways that no one expects. And it isn't just the huge screen with dense resolution though I love it. It isn't the stylus though I can see why Samsung included. First, we need to figure out what the Note is. Well, is it a smartphone or a tablet? It can barely fit into one's pocket and you look ridiculous holding it up to your head to make a call. And by most definition, the screen, which is a bit bigger than the top end Android devices, is too small for tablet use. At the end of the day, most users will use the Note for productivity rather that using it as a phone. So it is safe to call the Note a tablet that makes phone calls. More than that, Samsung is on to something. The note is a truly unique productivity pad that is useful across a broad range of disciplines. Students, office workers, mobile salespeople, the law enforcement, etc. I can really see myself with the Note sitting at Starbucks studying...

So, the little Darth Vader captured our heart with the VW commercial last year.  It was brilliantly done.  I've provided it as a reminder.  But now, there's a sequel. Hey, George Lucas.  Please take note.

Here are two posts that I thought would merger well together today.  Actually three.  And it’s about Steve. As in Steve Jobs.  First is one about Best Buy being inspired by Steve and instead of using celebrities, they will use some folks we consider to provide more meaningful services or, what we consider today, builders of some sort.  Second is a post on the eve of Facebook’s IPO where Mark Zuckerberg, who we all know doesn’t give a rat’s ass about his users’ privacy.  Third, is about Steve and his return to Apple. Put all three together, it’s about coincidences and that not even folks we consider geniuses are always right.  Sometimes, they’re so wrong but circumstances pulled them right back “on track” if you will.  Or put it another way, history will not be denied. First,  Best Buy's Superbowl commercial  will be using tech pioneers like Kevin Systrom of Instagram .  This was done from the inspiration of Steve Jobs but I surmise ...