AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

One of the better scifi movie that came out of a book that was also better than the book was Starship Troopers.  You might disagree with me but I think the movie took the idea and did one better than the author. Since, the first movie, we have seen others that followed up. And on top of that, was was a computer-generated cartoon version that was quite awesome for its time and even today. Now, get ready for Starship Troopers:  Invasion.  I've already pre-ordered it.  You can see for yourself why. Release is mid-August thereabout.  I can't wait.  Maybe if this movie does well, we'll see a new series for TV or even mobile games for the iPhone and Android.  Obviously, there is a large contingent of fans who can't get enough of these bugs and their human exterminators!

Source:   Mashable . Interesting post on colleges having trouble meeting the wireless demands on their networks.  The thing with this is that those colleges without adequate wireless Internet services should be pointed out because our students need them - it's practically as important as having oxygen. US News And World Report does an  annual ranking of the best schools .  Maybe they ought to include a section for schools best able to meet the mobile and technological demands of their students. More than 3/4 of US higher education institutions have problems meeting their students' wireless needs.  This is absolutely horrible.  And the thing is that it'll get worse quarter after quarter, sememster after semester, not just by year. And not just with students armed with smartphones and laptops but tablets will increasing become an integral part of their learning process.  Here are some disturbing information: Only 68% of schools offer unlim...

Interesting Appleinsider post  here about how Apple will use its own maps to replace Google Maps and deny Google valuable information about iOS users. I have to wonder if all this matters much in the long run.  It isn’t as if Google, with only location information data from Android users, arguably with a larger installed base than iPhone users, won't be able to create awesome new features and services.  In fact, Android users has had better mapping services from Google for years.  And it’s not as if Google Maps will suddenly disappear from the App Store either. It's only with iOS 6 that iPhone users will gain some parity with Android map apps from Google. Whether it is Apple, Google, or even Microsoft, their services has to provide value in ways that is unique it its installed base.  Maybe that’s what Apple is hoping to do.  However, last I check, there are quite a few Google developed apps and they’ve enjoyed a lot of downloads. Anyway, competiti...

Another example of (stupidity) why texting and driving don't mix.  It should be in the came category as drunk driving as far as I'm concerned. The idiot in the case lived but I hope they billed him for all the clean-up.  I might sound harsh but what if he had drove head-on into a family of four with young kids and killing them all - one of the kids could one day become a great doctor who find a cure to a disease or solve our energy problem? It's a must watch video.

Source:   Arstechnica . Microsoft will be abandoning the "Metro" name and in its place, the UI will be called "Windows 8-style UI". Talk about a mouthful.  Why the change? According to Ars, it's because a German company threatened to sue.  With Windows 8 launch happening soon, Redmond figured it would be easier to just work around it.  Unfortunately, while Microsoft put on a brave face about how "Metro" was only a code-name, a look around its website shows that Microsoft had long term plans for "Metro".  I mean, it's all over the place. Hope this doesn't trip things up for Surface and subsequent tablet and phone launches.  We general mobile fans and consumers need a strong Microsoft to compete in the market place.

Source:   blastr . I get scared easily but I love it.  Having said that, after watching Paranormal Activity 3 in a theater with a friend, and there were just the two of us in there for the matinee, we went back home and rented Paranormal Activity 1 and 2 to catch up. Needless to say, I did not sleep with the lights off for nearly a month.  It was only a powerful windstorm that knocked out power for three days that I had the lights off at night.  And my house is freaking filled with mirrors and very reflective windows. Well, Paranormal Activity 4 will soon be upon us.  And here is the trailer.  The only reason I was brave enough to watch it is because I'll have a house guest with me for a couple of weeks. See the end of it?  Puts a whole new perspective on using Facetime, Hangout, or Skype. Also, here is another movie, The Possession, that...sigh, I don't know why I do this to myself.  Yes, I look forward to scaring myself when i...

While there has been a lot of speculations about the screen of the iPhone, whether it'll have NFC (near field communication) chip to go along with Passbook, and how thin it'll be, I have wondered about what kind of camera it'll have. It's conceivable that Apple could go with the same camera as the iPhone 4S because of all the above features I've mentioned.  It could be that there will be enough new features and a form factor for the next iPhone that Apple doesn't see any need to upgrade the camera this time around. On top of that, let's not forget the CPU upgrade that the iPhone is likely to get.   Another factor that I think Apple might keep the camera at 8MP with marginal improvement at that is because of storage.  Let's say Apple goes ahead with a 10MP or 12MP camera upgrade.  The storage could be an issue for the 16 GB version of the new iPhone.  Then again, it could be because of the added storage requirement for photos that will drive u...

Source:   BGR . AT&T is disputing a post on BGR that its managers are telling store reps to steet customers looking for iPhones towards competing devices on Android and Windows Phone.  I don't know if AT&T is necessarily the ones doing it but I reckon Apple's competitors might provide incentives for them to do that while AT&T turns a blind eye. No one would put it past AT&T and its Apple's competitors to employ such tactics.  There's nothing wrong with that by the way.  However, you can just feel the intense feelings and regrets coming from AT&T for giving Apple so much power over its customers back in 2007 when the iPhone first came out. Seriously, otherwise, why would AT&T put so much money in trying to help sell the Lumia devices from Microsoft and Nokia? Anyway, AT&T disputed the assertion but it doesn't say that its competitors are not behind it.  In the long run, it is hurting only itself and its customers.

Source:   MacdailyNews ,  Techcrunch . One of the things I find interesting about cloud security and companies that ask us to entrust them with our data is that they only act after something bad has happened.  As in this case with Dropbox where a number of accounts were hijacked.  And only after they were hijacked did they institute some additional security features. My question is where were these security features before the hacking and why only after?  Why not before?  My Google accounts has double authentications and while it's a pain, I feel better about having it.   I think it doesn't matter if you're an Apple, Google, Microsoft, or RIM fan.  Or if you're another cloud customer.  Wouldn't it be better to have more security than not? In the case of dropbox, it appears that one of their employee account was hacked and then that's where the problem started. So, this is what Dropbox will be doing: Two-factor authenti...

Source:   Macworld . Yeah (unenthusiastic).  This morning, reports are popping up all over the pace that Hulu Plus is finally on Apple TV.  Hey, that’s great.  Except the only way to access it is if you pay for shows you can watch for free on the Hulu website. And then even if you decide to fork over $8 a month (that’s about three venti coffee at Starbucks there right), there’s no promise that the show you wanna watch will be available on Apple TV due to licensing terms.  Some shows are "web only". I would not even call the addition of Hulu Plus under such conditions a step forward in cord-cutting.  Let’s see what happens this fall when Apple unveils its Christmas products and hope there will be some changes or additional options to accessing videos in iTunes like renting TV series that you can already do with movies. For now, I’ll stick with my Macbook connecting via HDMI to the HDTV.  More about this uneventful event at Hulu blog .

iPod touch Versus iPad mini – If Both Comes In At $200, What Will You Get? I love speculating and I hope you like it too because this particular one rocks.  If Apple refreshes the iPod touch like we expect, since they didn’t do it last year, and keep it at $199, and they also released the unicornesque iPad mini and price it at $199 to compete with the Fire and Nexus 7, as an Apple fan, what will you buy? On face value, one might simply consider the iPad mini with its 7 or 8” screen to be a better value.  On face value, I’d have to agree with you.  But I’m not sure it’ll be so simple and Apple will make the choice a difficult to make. iPod touch.  To call the iPod touch a phoneless iPhone is really disrespecting what the iPhone represents as a mobile platform that upended the mobile market and really put a lot of innovative juice into a number of markets that had grown stagnant.  The touch was released in the same year as the original iPhone in 2007 but m...

I’ve cut the cord a long time ago.  The only paid service I’ve got is Netflix streaming )and at times, I don’t even know why I have it given the limited content).  Netflix, Hulu, and an assortment of other online video content that is available, maybe you should take a long hard look at your entertainment needs and consider cutting your cord if you haven’t already. Consider this: Google’s Nexus Q has sold out even at the high price of $300.  And the Q is really nothing more than a very expensive device for Android users to stream videos and images onto your HDTV from an Android devices.  Again, at $300 per unit, which is more than Apple’s hobby, Xbox 360, and PS3, the Nexus Q managed to sell out. And speaking of Apple’s hobby, the Apple TV, does a bit more and while it costs only $100, it does have a new function when Apple released the latest OS X.  Rather, newer Macs gained a new function:  Airplay ability – allows users to mirror whatever it is on t...

It’s practically August now.  Well, we’re about 48 hours from August 1st and for mobile watchers trying to decide when Apple will release new iOS devices this fall, it is going to be a feeding frenzy of rumors in the next four to six weeks.  Obviously, the choice is clear for those who are considering switching, buying, or upgrading to a new iPhone:  don’t buy anything for the next couple of months until Apple finally releases the 2012 iPhone, iPhone 5, or whatever they want to call it. That’s for people in the United States and maybe Canada.  The decision could be a little obviously for European customers and definitely harder for Asian mobile warriors because of the way Apple staggers their iPhone launches. It comes down to a couple of factors.  For instance, I needed a new iPhone last summer, 10 weeks before the new iPhone 4S came out and I went ahead and got the iPhone 4. No regrets.  Because I needed it.  I did get the 4S three weeks after ...

I know I am going to get some pushback for this but I think Apple should include Google+ as part of its wider integration with social media and networks. The other day, I talked about the values of "networklets" like Foursquare and Yelp that offer values to users beyond anything that Facebook and even Twitter can hope to achieve at this time (even Twitter has had better success than Facebook). Well, despite Google claiming Google+ having a couple of hundred million users, not many uses it on a consistent basis as Facebook, Twitter, and networklets. However, Google+ works more like a networklets because it is composed of a variety of subgroups of audience and users that geared towards specific interests. Writers, sports fans, tech pundits who following one another, etc.  Artists often share their latest work. This is why I even use Google+ on a regular basis. And this reason alone is why Apple needs to include Google+. These subgroups have strong passions for their causes...