AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

You should know by now that Disney owes LucasFilm.  If not, well, now you do.  Well, along with this bit is news is the bigger news that we're going to see a 7th Star Wars movie. My hope is that George Lucas isn't given any kind of creative control over it.  If anything, Disney should bring in the Pixar folks and get them to work on it.   Anyway, we'll know soon enough in the next few months.  Still, I wonder if the person who suggested this deal secretly wanted someone else to try making a Star Wars movie and show good-old George that his prequels could have been done better. And don't be surprised by this deal.  Disney and Lucas has cooperated in the past with attractions at Disney theme parks. On a historic note, this deal has come a full circle.  Like I mentioned before, Disney and Lucas has had some great history working together.  And Disney and Pixar made great animated movie history together and eventually Disney b...

Source:   Twitter . Pretty telling photo here from NY.  These folks are all standing outside Starbucks.  A closed Starbucks. Why?  Not because there’s a new drink that everyone has to have the way Apple fans has to have their fix of the latest and greatest from Cupertino.  Not because Starbucks has a new coffee flavor. Free WiFi.  Rather, working WiFi.  After Sandy plowed into the Northeast, about 8 million customers were left without power.  By the looks of videos and photos online, NY took a big chunk of the pounding and many were left without power. How Starbucks still has power and working Internet connection is something that I like to know.

It's here finally.  Despite Hurricane Sandy wrecking Google's plan, they went ahead and released Nexus 4, the next smartphone, and also iPad competitor Nexus tablet with a 10" screen. The Nexus 4, made by LG, could be had for $300 without a contract.  You're thinking "only $300??? Must not have the beefiest specs."  Well, you'd be wrong. Here are some specs: Chipset: Qualcomm Snapdragon™ S4 Pro processor with 1.5GHz Quad-Core Krait CPUs Operating System: Android 4.2, Jelly Bean Network: 3G (WCDMA), HSPA+ Display: 4.7-inch WXGA True HD IPS Plus (1280 x 768 pixels) Memory: 8GB / 16GB RAM: 2GB Camera: 8.0MP rear / 1.3MP HD front Battery: 2,100mAh Li-Polymer (embedded) / Talk time: 15.3 hours / Standby: 390 hours Size: 133.9 x 68.7 x 9.1mm Weight: 139g Other: Wireless charging, NFC Is that impressive enough for you?  Okay, I think the Galaxy III might have this beat or at least sort of keep things close.  Still, based on price alone, you ...

Source:   Touch Arcade . We don't write enough about games here.  And we totally should, you know?  Zombies rock and we're less than a week from Halloween.  And this "choose your own adventure" type of game here is exactly what mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are made for. This RPG game, if you can call it that, has all the elements of those old 80s and 90s book RPG games that a game master would use to create adventures for other plays.  Those were great times.  And if you have never tried it, well, you simply have missed out. But this game, available for iOS and Android, should help bridge that gap.  It's a zombie game, Blood of the Zombies, the title kinda gave the plot away a bit. And there isn't a lot of gore so it makes the game focused on the adventure than say something like The Walking Dead game offers.  It's all for good old fashion fun.  It's a big pricy compared to other games in app stores but definitely offe...

Source:   CNet . Meet Google and Samsung's answer to the iPad.  From this picture supplied by CNet, it looks like a giant Nexus phone. I refuse to believe that Samsung cannot design something that isn't the iPad and still look good. Maybe pricing will make all the diff for potential buyers.  $300 or even $250 would be a good point from Google.

Source:   Cult of Mac  (I don’t recommend clicking through – just an idiotic post). I hate pollings like this one.  Folks with new iPads from April were asked what they thought about Apple releasing a new iPad with a speed increase just a couple of days were.  Well, if they didn’t know about it as most iPad owners would not have, they would not care.  Their early-2012 iPad was the best tablet they’ve owned. So what if about 50% of the folks are upset.  We live in a world where people feel entitled and they are constantly looking out for things to be upset about.  Case in point.  At a local meeting, parents were upset with the current school board because another school board eons ago agreed to a cell tower on school property. Not one of the old school board members who signed on to that are now serving on the current school board and a recall effort against the current board is beginning to take form. So seriously, iPad owners love their ...

Source: Digital Reader . First, let's get this out of the way. The iPad mini was a response to the sub-10" tablet market, not necessarily the 7" tablets alone. And second, the iPad mini has a 7.9" screen that has a full 35% more screen real estate than the 7" flavors. So in his post, the DR writer uses Steve Jobs, as if he really gets Steve, said he would have priced the mini at $199 or close to it. He doesn't really say but given the rumors that were flying about, I guess he was one of those who believed it to be true. However, once you get pass his profanity, and there was lots of it, you are reminded that Apple never competed on price. Sure, the iPad at $499 was incredible but it is a whole new category of mobile computing no one has seen or experienced before. It was a new market for Apple to do as it will including pricing it at $499. So for Apple to price the level entry mini at $329 isn't that far fetched. Remember, Apple was unwilling to produce ...

Interesting theory here from CNet. Apple's event today was not just about the iPad mini. It was not about putting some distance between the iPhone 5 introduction and the iPad mini. It was meant to bury an old foe once and for all. Now, obviously today's focus was on the iPad mini. However, Apple did introduce a refresh of virtually all Mac line. Only the MacBook Pro and a MacBook air or not refreshed because they were just updated months ago. Perhaps, it was a coincidence. A coincidence that Windows 8 is just around the corner as well. Call incidents that Microsoft tablet, the surface, is about to be released. Obviously, Apple's event today could've been aimed at Google, Amazon, or anyone else who wants to compete against Apple's ecosystem during this Holiday season. Personally, I surprised Apple did not bring forth any new media development. So, maybe it's just a matter of timing. It's not Apple's fault that everyone wants bunch all their new gadget in...

Source:   Cult of Mac . Here are a couple of detailed hands-on with the new iPad mini introduced by Apple today.  I’m sure you’re reading this because you’re in the market for a sub-10 device.  I don’t’ know what to tell you.  You can always expect Apple’s products to be designed well. At $329, how does this compare with the $199 Android devices like the Kindle, Nexus, and the Nook tablets?  You’ll have to ask yourself some familiar questions about this.  It is worth the premium just to have a bigger screen (35% more real estate than standard 7” tablets), longer battery life, and being locked into Apple’s iOS ecosystem. You’ll have to decide if this is the route you want to go.  I’m sure Google and Amazon will match Apple with different features and form factors so, again, there is a lot of competition now in the tablet market. And it’s critical for all of these companies to be able to carve a piece of the tablet pie out for themselves. ...

This morning, we learn that Amazon UK wiped a woman’s Kindle, killed her account, and promises to do the same in the future if she ever tries to open up another Amazon account.  Oh, thank goodness for DRM, says Jeff Bezos. All of this came from Martin Bekkelund (via The Guardian ).  Right now, it’s one sided because Amazon’s public records (e-mails to the distressed woman) suggests that is is being a hard-ass about all this and is looking to stir up some really bad PR just before the Holidays shopping season in the Western world (and China). Not only will folks, and they should, start to reconsider buying Kindle and other DRM’d media from Amazon, they will have choices from Apple who will release their Kindle killer, the iPad mini, Google will quite possibly release their $99 Kindle-killer Nexus tablet, and Barnes and Noble’s Nooks with their growing legion of loyal fans.  Oh, though probably not a big concern at this time, Microsoft is releasing their Surface table...

Source:   Apple . I've read a dozen or so reviews on the new iPod nano from Apple.  While the general outlook for Apple's tried-and-true music player is sure to be great stocking stuffer, I've come to one indisputable conclusion about it. Apple is testing new features on the tens of millions of users that are going to buy this little music player.  Apple did it last year with the watch-like form factor.  It was a hit among those who wanted to wear the nano on their wrist.  I reckon only true music and Apple fans would have done that. This year, Apple is testing what amounts to be an iPod touch nano.  That's the only explanation I can think off.  So far, there is a lot of potential in this little thing.  I admit that I only have had a small hands-on time with it while I was at the Apple store a week ago while I wanted for my Lightning cables to be delivered to me. Once you have had time with the device, you can kinda tell yourself, "ha...

Not great news for Nokia or RIM fans. First, Nokia's Lumia sales has dropped off the cliff.  Now, we can attribute that to pinned up Windows Phone 8 demand.  I'll buy that but I cannot think that there is much room in the market that Nokia can pick up from the iPhone and Android. Then there's Blackberry users who are reportedly being shamed by iPhone and Android users.  I don't get why.  Sure, RIM sales are dismal and may never recover even with the release of Blackberry OS 10.  However, who else on the market still market and sell devices with physical keyboards en mass?  I think it's an unique experience in a mobile market dominated by full-touch screened devices like the iPhone. Back to Nokia.  It's continuing fall isn't a bad thing unless you're a Nokia fan.  If you're a Windows Phone fan, it could be that good days are coming.  Yes, above, I said Nokia may not have much room to move above but it doesn't mean that Windows Phone cann...

I like to see Apple price the iPad mini at $200.  Of course, it doesn’t mean that Apple will do it.  If it has cause and it can do so without sacrificing the margin (which seems rather unlikely), then I am sure Tim Cook will do it.  But that’s not why I’m writing this post. I want to get into see how Apple “can” find a way to price the iPad mini with 8 GB storage at $200 and really make Christmas for Amazon, Google, or anyone else in the tablet realm a really, really bad one to remember. First, there is the massive supply chain that Apple has built up over the years.  And it’s not just parts that Apple has sourced and hogged so that others have to wait until it has had its fill before they get their own turn.  It’s also about how Apple has depressed the cost of components that allow it to price the iPad at $500 when it was introduced in 2010 and not at $1,000.  And it’s been a couple years since the original iPad debut.  So costs has come down qui...

Source:   Venturebeat . Here's an adorable robot that you can fall in love with just as you do with your pets.  As soon as you support the Kickstarter program and it goes into production. Check it out. It's like a little rover with an iOS device as its brain, your iPhone or iPod touch.  I'm sure you've got plenty just sitting around from your recent iPhone 5 upgrade.  Stick that into Romo, that's the name of the robot, and off you go. You can control it with your iOS devices including the iPad or the Mac. This is the second coming of the Romo and its 10x smarter and better.  Well, that's what the company Romotive, folks behind Romo, promises.  Also, it'll have telepresence (which I'm sure means vid chat), navigates on its own, and facial recognition. Check out the video and then click over to pledge .  I've done it already!  Woohoo!

It seems that everyone has taken for granted that Apple will introduce the iPad mini, a name that should not be itched in stone since Apple has their own creative way of naming things (remember, Apple owns iSlate right?), on October 23rd.  So, it’s no longer a rumor.  It’s a fact now. The next couple of questions on everyone’s mind is how much and what can it do as in what specs will it have. Will it be at $250 or at a more Apple-esque $300?  And how about the screen?  Retina Display or will a smaller screen featuring 1024x728 be enough? There are a whole host of articles from bloggers to “professional” or “mainstream” media about this.  Each claiming to know what Apple is going to do.  I think it’s more important to focus on what Apple did not do in the past and what it ain’t gonna do. First, we can forget the $200 price.  $250?  That’s a bit hard to swallow because of where Apple is in terms of trying to protect and maintain its profit ma...

Source:   Computer World via MacDailyNews . Here’s a post about how Sharp, the maker of Apple’s iPhone 5 screens, showing off displays using the new IZGO technology.  They come in 7”, 10”, and 13”. What isn’t shown, obviously, is the often associated 7.85” screen that Apple is supposedly going to be using in their iPad mini units that will debut in a matter of weeks. And obviously, if there was such a size, Sharp would have been prevented by Apple from displaying and demoing them.  After all, despite so many leaks about the iPhone 5 and iPad mini parts, showing off the screen that Apple would use would be a little too obviously. Having said that, wouldn’t the 10” and 13” display be brilliant for the next iPad and Macbook Air respectively?  Just writing out loud here.