AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Given the sickly candy colors that are making rounds for the less expensive iPhone that is likely going too go on sale next month, it is good to know that Apple is giving the top line iPhone 5S (or iPhone 6) extra care when it comes to new colors. While I am ready to accept that gold will be an addition ad a color, looks like Weibo , China's Twitter/Facebook, could well have uncovered a fourth color. How's a gray or metallic shade for you?

Source:  Appleinsider, Cult of Mac . Mophie, a top Apple iOS accessory maker, is known for its battery case.  I'm sure they do great business because, let's face it, we all can use more power regardless of how long the iPhone 5 or the iPhone 6 battery life are going to be. However, they also know their colors as is evident from these new Mophie battery cases for the iPhone 5. Meet these colorful Mophie Juice Pack Helium . These are awesomely deep rich colors - unlike the sickly yellow, green, or pink ones that we are seeing from various overseas websites.  Frankly, I think (hope) those colors aren't real ( On Apple ). When CNet asked whether users what they want most from Apple for the next iPhone, 60% wanted longer battery life.  So, I reckon Mophie will sell tons of these good looking battery cases.  If Steve Jobs was around, he might even say they're so pretty you wanna lick them. They retail for $80 - it's a good investment that will make ...

Source:   Appleinsider . Today, Apple started a long-rumored iPhone trade-in program that allows the customer to use the credit towards another iPhone purchase.  I'm gamed.  I've got an iPhone 4 that I love for them to take off my hand.  It's a Verizon one so I reckon there is limited use for anyone of my family members (and plus, they don't deserve it). Here's the thing, customers can get up to $280 for the trade-in. So you know that you're not going to be getting the best deal in town.  For that, I would still look else where.  However, the convenience of this is just too much to pass up for me. And there's one further restriction.  You can only use your particular trade-in gift card to buy the iPhone of your choice for the same carrier.  A big "doh" if you ask me.  It totally makes no sense to me.  I have since begun migrating away from Verizon towards T-Mobile and I want an unlocked version. However, for most users, this prob...

I wasn't at home when Apple's TV shows disappeared for many users on Apple TV and iTunes.  That's a bad thing.  No doubt about it.  It's probably a pre-iOS 7 and OS X Mavericks, next version of OS for the Macs, thing - beta and someone did something, caused folks inconvenience, and now it's back up and fixed. However, like  Mac Daily News , I wonder... Well, the thing is that recently, the Apple TV gain a few apps - Disney, ESPN, Weather Channel, etc.  It's all great.  However, you do need a participating cable or SATTV services for those apps to be of any use.  But it has lead many of us to speculate that Apple is steadily gaining some ground in trying to get studios and content owners to loosen up a bit.  It's an uphill battle but Apple could be near the apex where it's about to reach a deal with cable or content providers. From there now, it's all downhill. And could this glitch be a part of any of this?  Some kind of a content ann...

Here's the link to the CNET page that showed results from readers about what they want to see on the iPhone and what features they like best so far as we know and you can read it and think it over yourself or come back and I'll give you my two-cent.  But take a look at the new features pie chart and look at what CNET readers are asking for from Apple on the next iPhone 5S or iPhone 6: BETTER BATTERY LIFE!!!  60% Of the readers want Apple to figure out a way to give the next iPhone longer battery life.  Seriously, for me, that's the biggest issue.  And if you're a mobile warrior reading this post and other ones on this blog, battery life is a recurring theme here. Yes, Apple.  We want longer battery life for our next iPhones.

Consider this.  A watch that doesn't immediately tell you the time but if you ask it or install an app on it, it'll tell you.  That may well be what Apple, Google, Samsung, or any of the consumer tech giants are working towards.  A watch that isn't a watch.  That may be key to the wearable device buzz going on right now - convince consumers and a new generation of mobile warriors who don't wear watches to wear a device on their wrist or body that has other helpful benefits other than telling time or getting notifications from their smartphones which is likely on their persons anyway in their pockets or bags. A watch that is not a watch.  In fact, any thinking of a wearable computer has to be very much removed from the idea of a watch.  Consider what Dick Tracy has to do to access his watch.  Or remember Michael Knight in Knight Rider? Our heroes always have to move their watches close to their mouth to do anything.  I think that's so dorky....

Source:   Clouding Around . Samsung released a very colorful Galaxy Tab tablet for children.  And it may well also aim this tablet squarely at Apple in the education market.  Question is does Apple have anything to worry about? No.  Not with this version but Samsung has a Microsoft-like characteristic that some people admire and others don't.  They'll keep coming back  and trying year after year, screen size after screen size, until they find a fit they can live with. Right now, from what looks of things, it's very much for toddlers and pre-K mobile warriors.  And I can tell you that if you give this to my 3-year old nephew and an iPad (he has his own 3rd iPad with Retina Display), he'll opt for the iPad because this Samsung Tab looks like a toy while the iPad doesn't and he assumes it can do more for him. And he may well be right as this 7" Samsung Tab 3 Kids will give parents/teachers greater control over what apps their child will have ac...

Source:   CNET . Folks, nothing is free.  All those services we use online that we're not paying for, even some that we do pay for, are free because we the users are the products.   The information that we provide to Facebook, Twitter, and Google are all collected, analyzed, and sold to advertisers. So, in this case, Facebook was used because users were fed up with sponsored stories that appear using information that users were not aware of.  Frankly, as abhorrent as Facebook practices are, folks, they provide a free service that hundreds of millions of users use.  Someone has to pay for the electricity.  As it turns out, it's the advertisers.  And they need information you provide Facebook to better target you with ads that are relevant to you. In this latest spat, Facebook only added language that specifically says that as long as you're using its services, for free, they have toe rights to use you and sell you to advertisers wit...

Bloomberg reported today that Apple will introduce the iPhone and iPad simultaneously at the same September 10th event that has been widely acknowledge by true Apple bloggers and insiders.  However, while the September 10th event is not in doubt, personally, I think the Bloomberg claim is. This why I'm not linking to the false information.  However, just for fun, let's speculate a bit, small bit, about this.  Suppose if Bloomberg happens to be right, again money is that they're not, then we are looking at a likelihood that Apple has a window of opportunity in October to introduce a new product. If so, many Wall Street analysts will speculate it to be the iWatch or, iWear, a device that is long rumored to be the product that Apple may introduce to replace the iPod or even compliment the iPhone through Bluetooth. Then there's the famed Gene Munster , of Piper Jaffray, who not only believes in the unicorn, tooth fairy and that Apple will introduce an HDTV each year f...

Source:   Game Squad . I ask again how desperate Nintendo is right now to find an answer against the onslaught of Android and Apple's iOS devices, iPhone, iPod touch, and the iPad, against the traditional mobile gaming market? This desperate. I'm not kidding.  I wish I was.  Meet the Nintendo 2DS.  It's a 3DS without the 3D and without the hinge to fold it. The good thing is that this is only $130.  The bad thing is that it's a $130 mobile gaming device from Nintendo that no one will buy. Comments  from Nintendo-centric sites seem generally supportive - finding the positive.  But then again, we're generally a family-friendly bunch. In other news, Nintendo also dropped $50 off the Wii U.

Source:   Droid-Life . Should have known this was coming.  I'm excited to see Rovio's take on this with the birds and piggies.   Yeah, my nephews will go nuts when they find out.  

Source:  Forbes . Parents' worst night - a predator near their child.  In their room.  Not physically but this particular violation could be just as bad.  Through security opening in a Foscam baby monitor, complete with video and sound, a creep called a baby all sort of names. And the flaw was only covered up after media reports and even then, through an Internet scan, most owners of these Foscam monitors are still vulnerable to hacks - more than 40,000 of them. I've heard good things about Foscam from friends but I don't think we were expecting this kind of security hole. Honestly, I think these devices are going to be a part of future homes - the smart homes that I think will be one of the next battle ground between tech rivals like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung. So, if you own one of Foscam's devices, best to go their  website  and look for a patch. Recently bought cam for a friend.  Gotta warn them tonight!

The US government has released a report on the dangers that Android poses to users - viruses, malware, and other exploits. Perhaps, Apple should consolidate its hold on corporate and government users by highlighting better security and additional features more publicly. Source:   Clouding Around .

I love the rumors (except ones about the colors) about the next iPhone, whether Apple calls it iPhone 5S or iPhone 6, just as much as the next guy.  But fingerprint scanners and colors aside, I want to know one thing that should matter to every mobile warrior:  what's the battery life going to be like for the 2013 iPhone? And the only number I care about is the hours of standard use.  I don't care at all about standby time.  I charge, on average, my iPhone 5 every 30-36 hours.  Not bad.  Under heavy use, I can get through the battery in about 12-15 hours.  Again, not bad but I also would not mind a longer battery as an insurance against unforeseen heavy uses. I'm sure battery life is a very important factor for Apple when it comes to iPhone, iPad, and, yes, Macbooks.  Just recently, Apple updated the 2013 Macbook Airs and gave them between nine to twelve hours of use. I argued that Apple not only has upped the ante for its competitors but al...

The iPad mini will be a year old soon and be replaced with an upgrade by Apple this fall.  What I want to explore here is whether the decision to rlease mini, obviously having been in the works of years even when Steve Jobs was alive and at Apple, planned all along or Tim Cook's after he become CEO. I've got a 2013 Nexus 7 that has fit nicely into my daily workflow.  The battery is subpar given what Google advertised but it's still good enough where I can get through the day safely without running out of juice. Having said that, the Nexus 7 is a pleasant surprise.  I can live on the Nexus, if I had not been exposed to the iPad. That is not to say that I won't be getting a new iPad this fall.  The reason is because as good as the Nexus is, the Android tablet experience leaves one with much to desire because of the lack of a true tablet experience I'm used to with the iPad. Still, that's not the issue here.  The issue is the iPad mini.  Steve Jobs ...

No one is in position to save Microsoft.  Me, you, or even the guy or gal they select eventually to be the next CEO of Microsoft.  Needless to say, that ain't gonna stop anyone from offering suggestions to the next CEO or Microsoft on how to go forward and if he or she doesn't follow those suggestions, suggest things at Microsoft will only become worse. That's the state of where things are.  Still, there are obvious moves that Microsoft should make. For instance, find out who the folks are that have been playing politics and prevent the really smart folks from shining and get rid of them. Also, get rid of the protectionist attitudes there.  Get rid of those who thought new Microsoft products would cannibalize existing ones like Windows or Office.  Courier could have been Microsoft's answer to the iPad but it was killed off as many suspected for the likelihood of getting people off the PC.  This includes webapps and services that could have rivaled Googl...

Okay, as you know by now (or you should if you're a mobile warrior and junky) is that Steve Balmer, the second CEO in Microsoft's history, will be stepping down as soon as they find a CEO to replace him and try to put Microsoft on the right mobile path and establish a clear viable strategy for the future. Right now, Microsoft is treading water.  Has been for tenure of Steve Balmer's reign. Having said that, I'm still waiting to hear more about his "resignation" which I had suspected wasn't because of the way things have been going at Microsoft in the last few years, the reception of its products to compete with Apple's iPhone and iPad and Google's Android and search. Meanwhile, I'll doing a running update on today and maybe this week's headlines on Microsoft's future, Steve Balmer's resignation, and anything else that might be interesting. First, headlines dumping on Balmer: Ballmer Departure From Microsoft Was More Sudden...

If I own a business, and it would not matter any kind, that caters to services or interaction with customers on a daily basis, I would make it my mission to see to it that I cater the mobile warriors. It'll serve to make my life (and employees's lives), customers'' lives, and the services better over all. I started thinking about this as I sat here at a local car wash. Free WiFi is great. However, I think they can take the next step and over other mobile incentives. Being able to use Google Wallet would go a long way to help mobile payments and cut down on the need for a full service cashier. Use a service like Square also makes sense. Cut down on paperwork and offer receipts to be emailed or sent to a dedicated app for the business. Offer added services or incentives through something like iPhone's Passbook. All of these mobile options, and there are plenty over ways to use mobile to expand a business and outreach, could be a good different...

Those sickly colors of the iPhone 5C or whatever Apple's gonna call them are just downright ugly.  And this post stem from an online discussion with a friends in Asia.  And I think we need to have this discussion on a wider scale. Here and now.  The white is okay.  But the red, green, and blue (I've seen a  yellow one) just are doing it for me. They just make me wanna puke. And seriously, they are just not the colors that we are accustomed to seeing from Apple.  And if they are indeed the colors Apple has picked for the 5C, boy, Apple missed Steve Jobs more than I expected. Now, there's a part of me that hopes those colors are just fake leaks from pranksters looking for attention or even Apple themselves trying to show off its competitors and the media.  Imagine Tim Cook and company trying to get Samsung to follow them. And we have seem some of these colors from Nokia and I can tell you after seeing those in person, they are just not doing i...

This is only a preliminary thought on the news that Steve Balmer will be stepping down as CEO of Microsoft. He screwed up Surface bad and the board wants him gone.  He had number opportunities to compete against the iPhone and Android and he failed to deliver.  With Windows and the PC market in a critical condition and at an inflection point, Windows 8 was worse than Vista ever was.  And Windows Phone is gaining shares but only because Nokia is selling devices at a loss or break-even. I'm excited that Microsoft might bring in someone who will rejuvenate the company and put Apple and Google on notice.  A product guy who gets it.  Not another sales guy like Balmer.   However, I also wonder if it's too late for Microsoft.  Think Palm.  Dell.  HP.  And now more recently, think Blackberry.  Turning a company around isn't easy.  Having said that, Steve Jobs did.  When he took over at Apple, it was weeks from going bankrup...

Have you had a game where you woke up in the morning, and you're not sure if it's going to be a good day or not? I have one of those mornings today. I woke up at 5 AM. As my custom, I reach for my Nexus, and I opened up my RSS feed reader. It's a Friday. Nothing happens on Friday. Are so I thought. Still only 5 AM. I was greeted with two headlines that I thought was a joke. The first one was that Steve Ballmer, Microsoft CEO, will be resigning within 12 months. I mumbled to myself, "Nah, this is wrong. He's never going to go. Microsoft is life". However, it's got to be true. That's because I checked another source. Like Steve Ballmer or not, him leaving Microsoft is a good thing for us mobile warriors. The second headline, that's the one that had me thinking my Friday might be not a good one. The next Batman is none other than the man who ruined Daredevil and Tom Clancy's iconic American spymaster, Jack Ryan. Jack Ryan, who was played masterful...

I wonder if Apple could get away with charging more for the new gold hue, champagne, that will be joining the white and black for the new iPhone, iPhone 5S or 6 depending on who you talk to.   I'm guess specs and storage for specs and storage, Apple probably would get chastised for trying to cater and gouge users just because it can by pricing the gold iPhone higher.   However, there is one way Apple can avoid charging more for the gold version.  What it can do is offer the gold version at 32 and 64 GB - forcing the affluent or those who might want to appear rich to pay $100 or $200 more.  They would still get something out of it - bigger storage whether they need it or not.   And here's the thing, an extra 16 GB isn't going to cost Apple much and most of the $100 extra are just pure profit anyway.     And trust me, the rich will have no problem paying for it.  My guess is that most of them already shell out for the 32GB or more a...

Source: Business Insider Via Dave the Mobile Sage. I'll be honest with you.  I'll willing to shell out the full retail price for an iPhone only because I refuse to give carriers the satisfaction of overcharging me and then I take the phone and use the cheapest plan I can find.  And luckily, I save all year or two for one. Now, living in Southern California, I see a lot of rich folks.  But the new Chinese immigrants are especially affluent.  So, when I read how they're willing to shell out nearly $500 for a new iPhone Color, I was not at all surprised. In fact, there are many who speculated that a new color, champagne, for the iPhone 5S or iPhone 5 could be aimed squarely at the rich in Shanghai and other major cities that affluent lives. While the new iPhone Color could be a boom for Apple, I still don't think it'll be enough to allow Apple to gain significant sales there only because the gap between those who can afford to pay $500 for a phone is so wide ...

ZDNet has hits and misses with their posts, particularly about Apple.  In this post , I generally consider it a good post because, while I don't agree with most of it, it's a good analysis of why Apple would release a high end iPhone as well as a mid-range one with different colors. It's worth a read to get at what Apple is planning. For the most part, Apple doesn't play defense.  It play offense whether it releases a new revolutionary product and moves into a new market, improves on existing ones, or when it allow one of its products to cannibalize another as the iPad is doing to Macs - just as long as it is taking up PC share as well. Even with the iTunes ecosystem, Apple continues to add new contents while it works on improving its hobby, the Apple TV. The thing is you cannot take each product unto itself and focus on it.  You have to sit back and see the various pieces within Apple's mobile strategy and how to work to expand Apple's size of the mark...

Apparently, Steve Jobs' attitude towards schools and the rigidity of the educational systems has not only be captured in history but now also in practice.  O4NT, or Onderwijs voor een nieuwe tijd  (Education for a new era), is looking to put an iPad into the hands of a young student and provide them with a virtual school that allows them the flexibility to new skills - communication, collaboration, problem solving and creativity, and, of course, school subjects as well. This is their Website - I'll let you click through to see more of what they offer.  Recommended. Just recently, the Los Angeles Unified School District, signed a deal, the biggest of its kind, to provide its students with iPads.  And I just hope that someone at LAUSD is watching this as well.  The concept that I love about O4NT is that with the iPad, it's possible to have school all year round as they'll likely be carried around by the students. Even during summer months when students g...

Steve Jobs once said that Apple made the icons in OS X look so good that you want to lick them.  He wasn't joking.  Okay, he was but you totally get what he means if you've been in Apple's sphere of influence for any number of years.  The thing is, Apple paid great amount of attention to designs of its hardware and software that is unmatched by anyone else in the industry. I'm sure there are a few who wanted to lick their colorful iMacs and iPods.  Now, it looks like Apple wants you to lick the next iPhone as well.  There is a model that Apple will introduce on September 10th that will sport a variety of colors, maybe around five, no one know for sure how many and which colors. The point is, these colorful iPhones will be Apple's gateway drug into its ecosystem.  That's not all.  Apple will price them low enough to entice some mid-market users but not so low that it dilutes the iPhone brand.  And that's in 2013. In 2014, Apple will li...

Source:   Forbes  (thanks to Dave the Mobile Sage for the Link) Yeah,  1984, by George Orwell , is probably going to happen.  The issue is whether we remain a happy society somehow or one that falls into darkness like in the book or lives behind the Iron Curtain during the dark days of the Cold War.  Either way, we are controlled - every aspect of our lives, self-censorship, probably under constant threat to give powerful gov groups more and more power, etc. Well, we're not quite there yet but given the lack of privacy these days because of government data collection, such as  PRISM operated by the NSA , it's no surprise that the government, not the US as I'm sure other powers are moving closer towards this, is trying to make it easier to collect more information about us and maintain massive databases from which powerful computers can mine information and connections about us that we might not even know. The United States Postal Services has a contra...

When independent coffee shops were fighting a losing battle against Starbucks and other coffee chains, they did what they could to drive in business and foot traffic.  Wi-Fi was a powerful lure - free Wi-Fi that is.  It hooked me into some coffee shops that I would otherwise not frequent too frequently.  However, some now are beginning to change their attitudes towards mobile warriors and their laptop carrying ways. The reason is simply.  The experience that Starbucks created to get people to use their stores as a hangout place or mobile office has now permeated through society and has permanently been etched our social psyche. As a patron, I'm a bit ticked off about this but I also understand the business aspect of this.  And this is the subject of this NBC post .  One thing mentioned in the post is the wasted space where one guy has a laptop on a small table while the other seat is open but no one will sit there because who wants to sit with a stra...

Didn't realize this when I downloaded my copy last night but apparently, my copy of the latest Star Trek movie, Into Darkness, was released on iTunes even before it went on sales as a DVD copy. Blu-Ray even. Weeks before release on physical media. This was both a surprise and a sign of things to come. And it makes sense the more I've had time to think about it. Digital distribution is the future whether retailers and consumers like it or not. In fact, I have not bought any movies on DVDs for years now. More than that, we may also see a realignment of the whole movie making and viewing experience as companies, especially Apple, continue to push the bounds of the whole viewing experience. - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Here's a good post regarding Star Trek and what the likelihood of Star Trek returning to the small screen is (what post about Star Trek isn't good?). Via  Huffington Pos t and  Blastr , Michael Dorn, aka Worf, talked about his Captain Worf idea and how it'll fit into the Star Trek reboot from J.J. Abrams. Dorn had been working and pitching his Star Trek idea to anyone who will listen. And apparently, because of the star power of Abrams, folks are afraid any Trek show could step on his toes.  Now with the second movie out of the way, perhaps, there is an opening for Dorn. However, as interesting as a series about Worf captaining a Bird of Prey or Starfleet vessel, I don't know how much Klingon honor and traditions viewers are willing to take.  Throughout Worf's development on  The Next Generation  and  DS-9 , I have seen him grow as an individual who walked a delicate line between the blood lust of his people, trying to stay true to honor, and uphol...

Source:   Huffington Post . My first wrist pedometer/calories counter/sleep band was the Jawbone Up. The first generation one and it gave folks trouble.  Which is why I switched to the Nike Fuelband as a backup. But even the Fuelband (already with one exchange) is dying (battery).  So I'll soon be in the market for something new. So, as I was googling and checking out the Fitbit, I came across this.  Apparently, Bashar Assad's wife uses Up.  So, I don't know what Jawbone thinks about this or if they even know. The thing is, whatever reason the wife of a despot who brutalizes, murders, and rapes his own people and armed terrorists would choose Up, the thing is it is a very good device now that the kinks from the first generation has been worked out. I'm looking hard a the Fitbit because it means stairs but I also like the ruggedness of the Fuelband.  And unlike the Fitbit, I won't lose the Fuelband or Up because they're constantly on my wrist. ...

I generally only install apps from big developers or ones that have a level of trust within the community of mobile warriors regardless of whether they're on iOS or Android.  However, I do have to admit that I'm more adventurous on my iPad and iPad than on my Android devices like my Nexus 7.   In general, all those stories of Android's malwares, security holes that Google isn't willing to plug or won't get to, and apps that just wanna steal my contact lists has me a bit wary.  Very wary in fact. However, this story about how researchers at Georgia Tech found a way to sneak in malware into Apple's walled garden was delicious and eye-opening.  However, it was not totally unexpected because anyone can climb over a wall.  It's just whether you've got a tall enough ladder or the right tools to dig underneath it. And it's good to see Apple bruised a bit on this.  Because of the walled-garden mentality, good or bad or open or close, it can give ...

I'm not entirely 100% up and up on how I feel about saving my data in the cloud with Apple, Google, or anyone else.  Least of all Google since we all know they look through them, not for any real malicious reasons, to sell ads to us. But the main reason is that we know they're sharing our data with the US government and, probably, others as well.  And you can forget about Facebook.  They're probably the worst in my opinion. Which is why I think there is room for the need to save data to the Mac and on the Mac, which is better for some who are more concerned with privacy than convenience. Macworld here has a tip on just how to do that.  However, it's not something that we are used to with Windows or the older OS X system which allows us greater choices and freedom.  For the average Mac warrior, Apple's emphasis on iCloud isn't going to be an issue. As time rolls on, iCloud will only get more robust and features, both good things.  For those of us ol...

Here is a very  good FT post  on Blackberry and how/why the once mobile king who owned the mobile market fell from grace to a deathly 3% of the market (or less by come accounts). The reason I recommend it as a must read is because of all the various signs that were missed by Blackberry executives over the years on the threat of the iPhone back in 2007 and the emergence of Android. Along the way, the post also brought in bits about the reign mobile device makers, Apple and Samsung while it named the other players that at one time or another also controlled their own destiny.  Nokia, Motorola, and, of course, Microsoft who recently took a charge of nearly one billion dollars to clear away its unwanted Surface tablets. What's interesting is that the post mentioned Google twice, it is important to point that it was only mentioned as the owner of Android and Motorola.  Like Samsung's last keynote on the Galaxy S 4 which hardly mentioned Google and nothing about Andr...

Interesting post here from Touch Arcade about gaming notifications .  In general, the average mobile warrior doesn't play enough games to warrant any kind of annoyance due to the gaming constantly asking you to play or update or help banish a group of bandits or whatever. In iOS, I do get game challenges from users which is as annoying as I find it and I don't find it all that annoying at all.  In fact, I like that the mobile gaming experience is engaging.  Mobile gaming provides a new dimension to the experience that did not exist on the console or handhelds like the Gamboys or even today's systems. I play lots of chess and other turn-based games with friends and even strangers.  Chess with Friends?  You  know that game.  And if you don't, you absolutely know Words with Friends.  And before that, Draw Something was very popular until it quickly fizzled out. All these games brought an online and social experience that was not really there ...

Source:   Macrumors . There is chatter that there could be a gold color option in addition to the white and back already on the market for the next iPhone (I'm still out on whether to call it the iPhone 5S or 6).  My reaction? Meh. Not all that excited about it. However, the 128 GB option would make sense and be inline with what we believe to the natural progression of the storage upgrade from Apple for the iconic mobile device.  There is already a 128 GB iPad option (that'll be my next iPad storage size when the new one is released this fall). What I'm worried about is whether Apple will only make it available to the gold option.  There is sketchy details about that.  Frankly, I'm not sure the gold part is even true.  Talk about catering to the one-percenters, you know? But a 128 GB white iPhone.  Where do I sign?!

Source:   GIGAOM . Ever watch ESPN3?  You should as I do.  Sport, baby!  Lots and lots of it.  And it's not even better if you happen to be a student, in the military, or happen to be on a college or military base because Disney has made available free streaming of ESPN3 to students and the military. What's significant about this is ESPN is a very hot property for Disney and ABC.  For them to open up access in this manner shows the growing confidence the studio/network has in the future of live video streaming beyond just the television in your living room or bars. Here is the caveat.  You need to have an iPad.  I know.  No Touchpad, obviously.  Surface? Forget about it.  But more importantly, troops and students armed with Android tablets are also a no go. It is a point worth mentioning because the growing number of Android tablet users.  Perhaps, the closer relationship between Apple and Disney a la Steve Jobs' le...

The gadget market can be divided up into certain segments - consumer, education, and enterprise.  And while a fingerprint sensor in the next iPhone could help usher in some sort of mobile payment scheme from Apple, I believe it is Enterprise who will benefit the most from this and solidify Apple's place in businesses the way not seen since Blackberry's Messenger did. Here's the thing, typing in a pass code is easy.  Setting one up on the iPhone is also easy but the problem is it requires that the user use a number they can remember.  Someone's birthday, probably theirs or members of their immediate family.  Pin numbers.  You get it. You know what I'm talking about even if you don't subscribe to such practice.  Chances are, you know someone who does. I can tell you know, I don't.  I've got an incredible memory for things like this.  I can look at a few sets of numbers for a few seconds and remember them all.  But if someone knocks me ov...

iPhone 5S or iPhone 6.  No matter what Apple is going to call it, do yourself a favor, pay that extra $100 for the 32 GB version or $200 more for the 64 GB version.  And in the longer term, you'll be glad for it.  There are a few reasons why. iOS is getting bigger and need more space. Apps are more sophisticated and better.  That also means taking up more storage. With the original iPhone, it came on two versions: 4 GB and 8 GB.  Most people opted for the 8 GB version and the next iPhone with 16 GB will fee like the 2007 4 GB iPhone. Camera and video quality are getting better.  More pixels also means bigger picture sizes.  Same goes for videos too. The iPhone ain't a toy no more.  It's a part of us.  Evolution but not in the biological sense.  You'll put more apps, including games, to augment and make your life better and more connected. We watch more videos and consume more information.  Books and magazines. All that takes...

Source:   Gizmodo . "Expect no privacy" is what Google is telling the court and users.  This was found in a brief filed by Google attorneys trying to dismiss a class action lawsuit brought on by Gmail users. Don't we kinda already know that?  I suppose. But to hear Google actually say it, somehow, it's different, you know? The exact words are  "Indeed, 'a person has no legitimate expectation of privacy in information he voluntarily turns over to third parties ".

I've never been in a city where there is a city-wide Internet access provided by the city so I don't know what Los Angeles has planned.  But the city council is set to take up a motion to  consider setting up and providing city-wide Internet access . Read again.  It's only to discuss a motion to start thinking about how feasible it is to set up a city-wide WiFi access. Newly minted council member, Bob Blumenfield, head of City Council's Innovation, Technology and General Services Committee, will introduce a motion, that requires approval, to ask city employees how this could be done. Now, this is the City of Los Angeles.  Flat, spread out, pockets of the LA city, here and there.  Not concentrated like SF or NY.  So, I reckon they're probably talking about downtown Los Angeles, north of the 10, east of the 110, southwest of the 101 and 5. The city could probably be talking about West Los Angeles and midtown.  But south of the 10, you know, South...

Source:   Macrumors . Through I love reading credible rumors, I don't like to talk about them here.  However, from time to time, I make exception on rumors to make a point or look at it from a speculative point of view.  Now, I'm gonna make a point. See, Apple analysts have been in the business of writing reports to drive up or down Apple's stock price.  And they get rewarded handsomely for it whether they're right or wrong.  See, there is one Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray who is so wrong that it's incredible that Apple blog sites even bring him up at all.  It's like he's an one-man DigiTimes. The latest out of him is that an upcoming low-end iPhones will not support Siri.  Are you kidding me?! The lowest of the low iOS devices, the iPod touch, has Siri and dictation support.  How can a critical device like the rumored iPhone Color, a device to propel Apple's mobile dominance onto higher level not have Siri? Maybe Munster isn't aware of ...

Source:   CNet ,  SpaceX . A press conference will be held soon to provide more details but we already know what Elon Musk, on his way to becoming this generation's Edison or Jobs with SpaceX and Tesla, now he wants to revolutionize long-distance travel with HyperLoop. "It'll be a smooth as riding the Space Mountain at Disneyland" is the quote but I'm not sure it was all that smooth to begin with.  But we all get what he's trying to say. So far, we know that it'll go up to 800 miles per hour on the ground through a series of tubes (according to one Alaskan senator, "series of tubes") and be sped up much like a railgun that we see in science fiction shows and books. More details to follow.  I'm very excited about this. My only problem with this, a major one, is logistics and find the space for this to be built.  Musk said the optimal range for this is between cities that are around 900 miles apart.  That's great and all except ...

Source: All Things D . Is that time of the year when we expect Apple to put on its annual media event introduce its fall lineup to get again crush the Christmas sales. So that means guess games. Rumors will fly and people will try to guess and second guess one another. Typically, the first ones you'll hear about are going to be false. Just like this September 6th date that was immediately debunked by Jim Dalrymple of The Loop Insight , Apple fan legend (I know that's probably not the right description). I could have "nope" that myself. Seriously, when has Apple ever launch a device on a Friday!? Then last night, All Things D posted that the fall event should take place on September 10. So far, no one seems to be disputing that. It also falls on a Tuesday so this make sense though it's far from confirmed. Still, it does appear legitimate at this time. However, this does not mean that Apple will beginning selling and shipping the next iphone, iPad, or what...