AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

I know that Apple has made it easy to design, code, and publish apps for the iOS devices.  Three hundred thousand apps and likely five hundred thousand apps by the middle of 2011 is a testament to how Apple can really shine when it wants to. However, outside of iTunes and the App Store, Apple's effort into other media has been met with mediocre success as with TV and movies.  And it has so far floundered with ebooks.  What should Apple do? How about an iBookstore SDK?

All everyone has been talking about is the FaceTime feature and the sexy new look of the iPhone. So, let's talk about the new display. 960X640 Officially called by Apple as the "Retina Display" 4X the pixels in the same 3.5" screen. 4X the contrast 326 pixels per inches, make it virtually difficult for the human eye to see from 18 inches away.  It's about the right range when one holds the iPhone from one's face. IPS - same technology as in the iPad:  in-plain switching More durable, scratch-resistant glass - used in helicopters and high-speed train Finger-print resistant - sort of There are other technical details that we don't need to bother ourselves with other than that it's just absolutely gorgeous.   However, in the last week, there have been back and forth debate about the quality the Retina Display and whether Steve Jobs' claim at 326dpi is higher than the 300dpi is more of his reality distortion field. Does that matter? It...

On On Apple, I think I'll start spending more time talking about apps that I find useful.  There are any number of sites that already do that but I have to wonder if they spend a few hours on each app, write up a quick review, and move on to the next one. I'm gonna start talking about actual experiences.  Free apps we can use and delete and move on if we don't like it.  With apps we buy, it's a bit more involved since it require us to make a purchase.   For instance, I bought some comic books from Panelfly and Comics from the in app stores since I'm a big Marvel fan.  Two separate stores but I want to see how the experience is like.  I've read ebooks on my iPhone but never comic books in depth. So, when I find time this weekend to read the comic books, I'll get into some more. Stay tuned!

We're starting to generate some reviews and app analysis. But I'm focusing more on creative contents, ebooks, and games. The first one I'm reviewing is Wattpad, an ebook file sharing site, that has created an iPhone app for iPhone and iPod users to gain access to its library. I use Wattpad along with eReader, Stanza, and the Kindle app daily but I especially like the free material that is being shared for readers. More Wattpad review at Mobile Goodness

It's been widely known that when approached about ebooks, Jobs said Americans just don't read anymore. I initially took offense to that until I realized there might be some truth to that. I don't know if reading is now an elitist thing to do but I was at Borders last night and I did see a good crowd there.  I was at a different book store last week and I saw quite a line at the checkout counter.  So I think it isn't that folks aren't ready anymore. The truth is, people aren't reading ebooks.  Ebooks have been around for quite some years now.  And digital growth for books are not growing as fast as other media like music. Can Apple Make America Read Again?  Maybe.  According to Forbes, Apple may have overtaken Kindle with respect to the number of folks using iPhones to read ebooks.  I encourage heading over to look at it a bit. I don't like the flippant use of download numbers to suggest that more folks are using iPhone to read books t...