AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

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...

I want a bigger screen iPhone.  And given the talk recently of a bigger screen iPad, I'm interested in that as well. There are a few issues, all very important that Apple has to address if it wants to release a bigger screen iPad. Right the right size screen - it's not so simple.  Apple designers have to find one that balances the needs of the users, the UI and gesture experiences, and the technical feasibility. Bigger screen would also mean a CPU with the right graphics processing power to potentially drive more pixels.  This new chipset would have to be able to do that without drawing too much power. A newer battery design and packaging to allow for a bigger battery to drive the screen and new internal components. When you put all of the factors above together, it also comes down to timing - when the screen, battery, and chip technologies are all ready at the same time to fit Apple's product and design philosophy.  Even if you have two of the three factors,...