AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

I've waited a whole day to weigh in on the announcements from the WWDC. I've made some notes but I'm not about to weigh in just yet. For some reason, this is very different. This is a very different beast up at Cupertino. Maybe it's because there is no Steve. But it's more. Just a few quick notes here: Phandroid wondered if the $99 iPhone 3G was an attempt to clear out the stock. No. It's not. I've wondered about that myself but this is Apple going for the kill. The iPhone is the one to beat. And here's what amazing about the competition (except maybe Android): they're trying to beat the iPhone with smartphones. Folks, the iPhone and iPod Touch are a part of mobile computing platform (iTablet will be too when it's finally released). The iPhone just happens to be a handheld computer that makes phone calls. Moving the 13" Macbooks up to the Pro league. It's been talked about as a mini Pro but who would have thought that Apple...

I think this picture from Engadget says it all. It's from their post from a Sprint store that started selling both Palm and Sprint's savior, Pre. I'm going to reserve judgment until I get a chance to visit a Sprint store and hold one in my hand but if nearly every review out there indicates problem with the hardware, basically the cheap feel of the case, and wholesale complaint about the keyboard, I'm going to go on the limb here and say that an iPhone or traditional Palm PDA form factor is in the works. I've read a couple of posts about a WebOS Centro as well. As you know, Palm is now loaded with a bunch of former Apple executives and engineers. Maybe the Pre's design is what the iPhone could have been and Jobs simply dismissed it. Now, the Pre's design is a push of of those ideas that Apple rejected. Now, only the WWDC. Maybe we'll see something about the iPhone. Maybe we won't. I still very happy with the iPhone and all that it can do. I...

Walt Mossberg does indeed know that Pre (going on sale this Saturday) is being pit against the current iPhone and it has a lot of folks excited. But next week, Apple may finally show us if there is anything else in iPhone 3.0 that they've kept from the public. There's been a lot of speculations about unannounced features and hardware additions. Walt seems to believe that Apple will be surprising us at the WWDC or whenever new iPhones are announced. In fact, he seems to believe that claim strongly. Over on Onxo , we've summarize the current reviews (most came online in the last few minutes) and the Pre is probably the device most people will look to if the iPhone doesn't exist. So just in case you're wondering, based on the reviews, the Pre is pretty good but the iPhone is still the go-to mobile device. Here's are some perceived advantages the Pre may have over the iPhone: physical keyboard, WebOS, background apps, Synergy, removable battery. Now, I did ...

It's obvious how much Palm loading up with ex-Apple execs and engineers has irked the people currently occupying the halls of Cupertino that is Apple's headquarter. What's not known is just how much Jobs and Co. is willing to let that slip out into the public. Outside of thinly veiled patent threats surrounding the Pre, there really hasn't been much said about the issue. Now, most bloggers (and Wall Street analysts with these blogs) believe that Jobs will officially return to work from his medical leave by introducing the next generation of new iPhones. No one knows if it'll be at the WWDC in early June or at a special planned media event. Whenever or wherever the new iPhones are unveiled, I can totally hear what Steve Jobs is going to say about the prices. "We have three models. $99. $199. And $299. (PAUSE) And no rebates required," to thunderous applause and laughter. (I don't know if there will be a $99 model. However, given how aggressive A...

I'm a Palm fan. I've been using Palm PDAs since Palm III. Their best work was, I still believe that to be the case, is the Zire 72. However, I'm I bigger fan of Apple fan and I totally love my Apple gears. With that said, I'll gravitate towards whoever provide the best technology along with the best user experience at the end of the day. With that said, I read an article in Silicon Alley Insider that speculated on whether we'll see the iPhone at the WWDC. Personally, I don't think that'll happen. I'm not even sure we'll hear about the iPhone 3.0. But one of the points they made in favor of the iPhone being shown off at the WWDC is the idea that Pre will be available around the same time as the developer conference and Apple will want to spoil the party. Insider said " With the Palm Pre on the market as possible temptation, Apple will want to have its new iPhone out ASAP ." It's certainly a valid point. But it's not somethi...

That's right. How do I know this? Well, I don't but apparently, ATT believes that to be the case. I'm rooting for Palm to stay alive but I won't judge until you mobile warriors have a go at it. I don't trust paid bloggers or media reviewers with agendas. So, ATT has release a comparison document between the iPhone and the Pre. So, Apple folks, what do you think? Personally, there are valid points but some are kind of weak like the Wi-Fi. Nothing about MobileMe, iPhone 3.0, or integration with OS X. You know where I'm going with this. But ATT's chart is pretty lame. Where do I start? QWERTY keyboard. Why talk about something you don't have? Limited WiFi. Dude, please, guys. Folks aren't going to stop buying Pre's because they can't have access to the Starbucks hotspots. No roaming and stuff. It's a consumer phone. But it's apoint. So you see, not a very good chart. Let's try this: Access to millions of songs on iTunes. ...

We've heard the stories about Apple's secrecy and it sort of went insane in the early days of the iPhone SDK with the nondisclosure agreements.  And when Apple finally dropped the NDA, developers were generally happy (users probably were affected much). Well, you might not have know that an app called Podcaster was rejected and because of the NDA, the developer couldn't well talk about it much.  It was a big story.  You can google for details if you want to learn more about it. Well, Apple has finally approved Podcaster.  Originally, it was rejected for duplicating a function on the iPhone -  well, eventually, an iPhone update on the iTunes allow iPhone users to wirelessly download podcasts, very much like what Podcaster does. Macworld is just as baffled by this change of heart at Cupertino as we are.  They believe it's a removal of a feature in the original Podcaster app or that RSS Player, the new name for Podcaster, slipped through without Apple no...

Given the good press the Palm Pre is getting so far in the media, one part of the story that is mentioned but hardly highlighted is the people behind Palm's latest and best chance of turning things around. Now, we don't know if Palm Pre or the new widget-based OS will be the new OS X of the mobile market. There will be a lot of waiting, analyzing, blogging, and speculating along this line and we'll see a lot of comparisons to Apple and Apple's turnaround because a lot of the folks at Palm now trying to revive the company were former Apple executives or engineers. Certainly there are top names we've all heard in the media. Lesser known are the number of former Apple engineers. However, should Palm succeed in turning it around, imagine how hot former Cupertino executives will be, especially those who had the fortune of being personally schooled (or ripped a new one) in the Jobsian view of the world. And there is no denying that Palm Pre's UI and other implement...