AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Here is an interesting post (Two Guys And A Podcast) concluding that Intel's days are numbered as far as Apple using Intel mobile chips are concerned as Apple continue to push forward with speed on the A-series chips used in iOS devices while Intel seems to be standing still or moving forward at a much slower pace. The post concludes that Apple's how chips should over take Intel's like the Core M chip being deployed in the new Macbook. And when that day cames, Apple will replace Intel chips with its own in Macs. That is the rational and conventional thinking.  However, I have a different take.  We have all heard the rumors regarding the new iPad Pro that Apple is working on.  It was supposed to unveiled by now.  Obviously, it has not and there are plenty of rumors explaining why that is the case.  My take is that perhaps, Apple is waiting on a new generation of chips that should be unveiled later this year can serve as the heart of the new iPad Pro, much faste...

There is plenty of chatter that Richard Branson is up there with Elon Musk as far as space goes but Branson is missing something Musk has and is considering getting into that game:  electric cars.  That in and of itself isn't news.  What I had originally though of, for all of ten seconds, is that maybe Virgin should partner with Apple.  But the more I think about it, the more I believe Apple will likely go at it alone - no deals with Mercedes, MBW, Telsa, or anyone else. After all, the most likely partner Apple is likely to go with is Telsa and we already know from the poaching war that it is not going to happen.  However, Branson's entry into the high-end electric car market should be a welcoming move for auto lovers.  Competition.  And that is what Telsa lacks even as it continues to innovate.  And while a Virgin challege is good, it won't be like the kind of competition and disruption that Apple can bring. And the Apple way is what will likely ...

It's like 2015 is going to be remembered as the year when Apple set in motion for its in-house developed chips to replace Intel chips in Macs.  This started with Apple using a relatively underpowered, by today's standard, Intel chip in the new Macbook as the much anticipated iPad Pro wait in the wings to be introduced with an updated iOS 9 more suitable for power users.  And this iPad Pro will sport a brand new A-series chip with comparable computing power but a longer battery life than the Macbook. In fact, the iPad, since the very first iPad introduced by Steve Jobs, have a longer battery life than most of the Macbook variants including this 12" Macbook. One can assume, then, that Apple will allow this new Macbook battle it out on the market with the iPad Pro.  Let the users decide what works better for them.  A traditional laptop against tablet.  Also, this won't be just an iPad with a bigger screen and a more powerful chip. Apple will probably accessoriz...

There are no apps on the Apple TV other than those that Apple put there.  Video, music, podcast, and Netflix to name a few are the only ones there.  In fact, there are quite a few choices for users to select regardless of music, video, or live streaming media.  What is not there is an app store that many have been asking for or rumored about.  And to be frank, there may never be an app store for the Apple TV. Apple has so far been adding "windows", if you will, that allows the user to consume content without any actual interaction.  No social graph.  You can play games on your iPhone or iPad via Airplay, mostly through mirroring, hardly ideal. And let's face it, the currently Apple TV is good enough for streaming and Airplay, nothing more.  And until Apple updates the hardware on the Apple TV, we won't know what Apple may have planned.  And once Apple's own streaming video service is available, it might be all that Apple needs - more content. If a...

With HBO Go on board, Apple is on the verge of debuting its own TV service supposedly with around 25 channels for about $40.  This is as concrete as we are going to get given years of rumors and, frankly, disappointment. According to Wall Street Journal (via Cult of Mac ), Apple has lined up major networks like ABC, Fox, and CBS.  Considering how long it has taken and subscribers already with Sling TV as a choice at $20 a month and 14 channels, it might not be that great a deal.  And furthermore, from what we can tell, it's not "cord-cutter" friendly. A lot can still change between now and this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, supposedly when Apple will unveil the service.  However, if history is any indication, it's unlikely Apple will pick the WWDC for this unveiling as Apple tend to want to focus on iOS and OS X during the conference. If Apple does unveil its streaming TV service, it'll likely be in the fall when Apple updates iOS devices li...

Source:  Insider . Many of our icons, good and/or bad, have flaws.  They're people just like anyone else.  No one is perfect and public figures or anyone with a big ego and personality tends to have amplified flaws.  That is what makes them great and infamous at times.  This is the same for politicans, celebrities, and innovators like Steve Jobs.  Certainly, anyone who has hear of Jobs have heard a story or two that highlighted his character flaws. Now, a new documentary called "Steve Jobs:  Man In The Machine" ( IMDB ), it takes a look at Jobs' personal life and focused on specific events in his life that underscore what a selfish man and what a megalomaniac is he.  Admittedly, other films and documentaries only provided a passing glance at this side of the man and the many books about his seemed to want to rush through the early parts of his life, like how he treated his daughter Lisa and get to what the meat about his rise in Apple, his exile a...

Source:  New Scientist .This isn't really a tech or social media story that I normally like to share about Apple, Google, and others but the news that carbon dioxide emissions in 2014 was the same as the previous year is pretty significant.  And in some part, it has to do with alternative energy sources that came only despite a growing global economy. The only times this has happened were during economic slowdowns experienced in the early 80s, the recession of 1992, and the Great Recession in 2009. While researchers at Tyndall Institute for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK had expected a 2.3% increase in carbon emission, changing energy use and patterns should have alerted them to the possibility that carbon increase should slow dramatically.  As dirty as China is, renewable energy use is increasing in the Middle Kingdom while coal use is down.  Furthermore, tempered growth in China is also contributing to the carbon level in 20...

Much has been made about the iPad's diminish sales over the last year.  There is no denying that once of the last major products Steve Jobs introduced is not performing as well as most analysts and pundits believe it was to be.  Perhaps, there are even some at Apple that cannot see why the iPad isn't lighting the tablet market on fire or at least growing slowly.  It's the PC market that has shown life even as Mac sales continue to outperform. The problem for the iPad, and tablets in general, isn't that there is not a market for it.  Problem with a majority of users and in the media is the preception of what a tablet is for.  Instead of a multipurpose device with the potential as a laptop replacement, it's being looked upon as a device for media consumption - for business, education, and entertainment.  Consumption.  Not production of content.  If you wanna do that, you still need PCs for the most part.  The uses of tablets in my family and ...

It's been confirmed over the last year that tablet sales have been down.  So, does that mean PC sales are up?  Well, Mac sales are but the larger PC market is still stagnating.  Hence, Intel's warning.  So, what is exactly going on here?  What are the billions of people doing their computing on?  For the most part, people are holding on to their computers and tablets longer.  The upgrade cycle has become longer largely because today's computers and tablets are so powerful.  While Microsoft struggles to stimulate demand for next version of Windows, Windows 10, it certainly has not help with the computer buying cycle. When Intel warned that its outlook was not as rosy as stated, an interesting thing happened.  Microsoft and other tech companies associated with the PC market lost value while other tech giants like Apple and Google rose.  It spoke volumes about where the future is headed when Microsoft manages to stem the the PC market from ...

This post from Boy Genius Report rehashed many of the reason why Apple is not likely to develop its own car.  The most talked about reason why Apple will not develop its own car is because of the historically low margin the auto industry has selling each car while Apple's products enjoy margins might higher. If margin is more of an issue than the billions that Apple will likely make from selling cars, then that is correct.  It should also mean that Apple should get rid of some products with margins that are dragging down the iPhone.  Apple's crack team of executives have thought about this and will adjust the company as well as Wall Street accordingly.  As far as margins go, Apple would make sure it can at least match if not exceeed the 15% margin that Porchse is pulling in and at least twice that of most luxuary brands.  The other argument is the number of models Apple is likely to put out compared to BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, and other high-end cars.  Tels...

There is some disturbing news that Apple is discontinuing sales of competing health bands like Jawbone UP and Nike Fuelband.  Granted, these are health bands and not actual watches and, granted, the Nike Fuelband is as good as discontinued, it really highlights a segment of the health monitoring market that Apple is not addressing with the Apple Watch. Anything $250 and under market.  I would, in a heartbeat, get in on a $200 Apple band that monitors just steps and is integrated with the Health app on my iPhone.  I'm hoping that perhaps after a year or so, Apple will introduce additional health monitor devices and other forms of wearables for those not interested in a fully functioning computer that sits in a wrist.  I've been a dedicated user of the Up, Fuelband, and Fitbit - tried them all at different times as wear and tear forced me to get one or the other.  My latest was the Fibit Force that also monitored how many stairs I take.  After it died, just b...

Looks like Jay Z is trying to follow Apple's Dr. Dre, formerly of Beats, to become the next billionaire rapper.  That can be the only reason why he's starting his own music streaming service... ( The Verge )

Today, we got some needed answers to the Apple Watch's battery replacement.  It's important not only from the standpoint that the Apple Watch is completely a computer and without a functioning battery, it's as good as a dead weight.  In the case of the Edition, a very expensive dead weight.  It's not like you can wind it to make it work again (maybe someday).  But what about other forms of servicing? What comes to mind is what good is a gold-encased digital watch if it's going to be obsolete two or three years down the line?  As an Apple fan, I like to know the answer to this question even though I'll never put down $10K for a regular watch much less one that will lose out in favor of newer ones.  Don't get me wrong.  There will be folks who buy the Edition, costing up to $17K depending on the band.  And maybe the fact that there will be a limited number of Edition it itself value.  We'll just have to see how much value it holds up over the y...

Yup, Steve is smiling his trademark smile with a bit of a smirk at the news of the standalone HBO service, HBO Now, with Apple as its exclusive launch partner (media reports Apple with a 3-month window exclusivity).  The success of this launch, which others and I have already called it, will put mucho pressure the current cable TV model. According to Recode , HBO is hoping to gain leverage over the cable and satellite industry in generating more revenue.  For now, HBO will charge $15 a month.  With Apple and, 3 months later, other means by which HBO Now will be able to be watched, it will add a new market for the cable channel - cord-cutters who want HBO without paying for cable TV bundles that most do not want to watch.  HBO wants broadband service providers to sell this new standalone service.  And of course, Apple is all the more willing help HBO out if it means wrestling control of the media content away from the traditional players and destroying the curren...

Apple Watch may well be a flop.  No one knows until it actually goes on sale and, even then, we will have to wait a couple of quarters at least to know if this is actually the case.  On top of that, should the Apple Watch add a mere $10 billion a year to Apple's bottom line, it's only a flop compared to other Apple launches.  Ask any of Apple's competitors and ask them if they would like to see an extra $10 billion to their revenue. Still, this has not stopped headline grabbers from news outlets to "analysts" and other forms of pundits to come out and used the same tired argument about how Apple is doomed and/or how a device that will sell millions is a failure.  Take this list of detractors via USA Today . One of the arguments made about the Apple Watch being a failure is that it only works with the iPhone.  Duh.  It's the iOS ecosystem.  As last I checkedly, it's limited to the iPhone and iPad.  The success stories that Apple will be sharing wil...

It's Friday afternoon here in the Pacific Standard Time.  The sun is up, the freeways will be clogged for another four hours, and the parties have even started yet.  And the rest of the world is well into their weekend.  So, it should be a slow news day, right?  Ordinarily, Friday afternoons are perfect time to unveil bad news that no one wants folks to pay attention to. So, it's odd that there are plenty news on the Apple Watch that are somewhat positive - longer battery life than expected.  As in 25% longer with double the actual usage time ( 9to5Mac ).  And this is news leaked to an Apple-centric blog and not to a major news outlet like Bloomberg or the WSJ.  Why now?  At the start of this post, I had wanted to make you, the readers, decide whether this is more controlled leaks from Apple to build hype through the weekend or Apple had somehow lost control of the flow of information.  Only yesterday, Bloomberg shared juicy bits about a few...

Source:  The Verge . Amazon bought some game studios a couple of years ago in hopes of launching exclusives that it hope would stimulate sales of its own Android-forked OS devices, the Kindle Fire tablets and its ill-advised foray into the mobile phone market, the pretty much dead and Fire Phone.  It's like Fire tablets are not doing too well giving it has been many quarters since Amazon crowed about how many millions it has sold without actually giving the public a number. This is pretty much the reason why Amazon is bring more of its game over to iOS.  One title, Tales from Deep Space, has been giving good reviews and the newer games should be pretty decent.  As an iOS gamer, I'm pretty happy with this.  From a competitive stand point, there are two takeaways from this.  First, exclusives are not working out too well for developers unless it's on iOS.  Second, Amazon with its bad bet on the Fire Phone may have killed off its mobile hardware business ...

When it came down to it, the iPod was just a MP3 player.  Plain and simple.  But as with anything Apple is involved with, the iPod has an unusual and unique take on how we listened to music and interact with it.  Click-wheel and gigabytes of storage in forms of a hard drive and, later, flash memories.  It will be the came for Apple's car.  But here's the thing, Apple has been prefectly willing to let someone else make the cars as long as their dashboard work seemlessly well with CarPlay. And with delays after delays, I think at some point, Apple got fed up and decided it was better off making a car running its own unique interface.  And while it's not set in stone, should Apple truly unveil its own car, the auto industry has no one else to blame but itself.  Take Toyota for instance.  It is not only dragging its feet on CarPlay and Android's take on the car, it supposed believe that its proprietary take is better for Toyota going forward.  Su...