AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

 I figure I need a MacBook for coding.  As I continue my slow coding trek, I assumed that I need a Mac in order to do that. However, I’m still at the level where I can get away with a Mac while I use online sources and apps to beef up my coding muscles. This week is going to prove it. I will be having a change of scenery as I am staying closer to work so we do not have to suffer the Los Angeles traffic. LA is flat and you have to drive pretty much everywhere you go. This morning, I packed my wife’s MacBook Air, I was about to put my 12” Macbook into my bag when I realized that I have been doing a lot of work on the iPad mini and the iPad Pro over the weekend.  Over the weekend, I did the following in terms of productivity: Research products Sketched some artwork Writing Used Numbers (Apple’s spreadsheet) and Google Sheets (Google’s spreadsheet) Worked on online store (Yup, starting a hobby to learn how e-commerce works.  What better way than to create an online store...

Microsoft's Edge, Google's Chrome, and Firefox are the go-to browsers for most laptop and desktop users. Perhaps, Apple should really get back into the browser market if we are to really believe that Apple cares about user privacy and not just that of users behind its various highly protected and curated gardens. And with web technology evolving and getting better all the time, web apps could make a comeback and Apple has to make sure it does not get left behind and release Safari again for Windows and even Linux. And releasing browsers for Windows and Linux with greater privacy protection and features could help Apple increase its service revenues as well as help protect users on the increasingly complicated Internet. Also, consider Apple possibly leaving billions on the table in the search and ads market, could Apple afford to do nothing and let others make all the money in the browser business? Right, the argument would be that Apple is being paid tens of billions by Google ...

 I cannot say that Apple really surprised us today with the event that introduced new iPads, iPhones, and the Apple Watch. There was something of interest for fitness fans just after Apple introduced the Apple Watch 7 that went longer than expected but the iPhone 13 was still why people showed up. And while cinema videography was pretty awesome, it was the battery life on the iPhone 13 that really should be the headline. Should we be surprised by Apple giving the newer iPhones better battery life? Not really.  Thinking back now, Apple has been on a tear in the last few years starting with the iPhone XR that really impressed me. And year after year, battery life has improved to the point that I complain about it every other day rather than every day.  Okay, may be not but you know what I mean. I’m no longer anxious about running out of juice the way I did with the original SE, iPhone 8, and the X.  Since the XR and 11, Apple has brining its A game to the battery fight...

I love my iPhone 12 mini even though I have always had a top line iPhone (except for when I use my 2016 iPhone SE as a main driver and the Pro on certain occasions). So when I went with the mini this year, I knew I could not go back. It was a bit bigger than I hope for with a 5.4" screen but I'll take it. Given the news that the mini had not being selling as well as Apple had hoped, the rumors out there suggest iPhone 13 mini would be the last mini barring a miraculous jump in sale. I think it would be a mistake for Apple to get rid of the mini. The rumors likely have it all wrong. Apple will not be getting rid of the mini but likely will change its strategy in marketing and selling the mini. There are options Apple have to make the mini more popular with the mainstream mobile users. It all depends on how Apple's mobile business model evolves or stays the same in the years to come. Will Apple be looking to sell high end models to keep its average selling prices up or will ...

T-Mobile's gross profit for 2020 was $40 billion. And that is a lot of money no matter how anyone, including Wall Street looks at it. Now, consider the yet to be announced feature on the iPhone 13 that allows users to use satellite services to connect in the event of an emergency and slowly over years, Apple begin to offer its own satellite services, possibly bypassing the mobile companies and keep billions in profit and revenue, it would be a business that provides high margins (seems like Wall Street is very concerned about profit margin for all publicly traded companies).  According to reliable sources, the iPhone 13 will allow users who are outdoor to use the iPhone to connect to satellites to transmit short messages in case of emergencies. For the moment, the iPhone will not become a satellite phone. Rather, the emergency satellite service will be limited in usage as well as limited in the number of markets available. Here are other services that I would like Apple to offer (p...

Apple surprised pretty much everyone when it announced that it would scan photos for evidence of sexual child abuse. The first thought, I am sure it is the same for most other Apple followers, is that it seems like a bad one, one that would quickly be followed by "the road to hell was paved with good intentions". Now, another surprise: Apple has backdown from following through, for now. It shows that Apple has finally learned a valuable lesson. Perhaps, Apple could have implemented the scan photos for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM).  Last month, Apple made the announcement of an upcoming feature to scan photos stored on iPhones for sexual abuse of children.  You likely have seen CSAM all over the news and on the Internet. It really has not been talked about enough in the context of what it could offer users in general. For something like this, it means that Apple has developed algorithms that can recognize certain elements in photos that is beyond identifying people, obje...