AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Tim Cook was spotted in China via a Weibo account ( TechNode  via  Appleinsider ).  Weibo is China's version of Twitter.  As I said before, China's growing mobile use will have influence on mobile development and directions app developers take in the future.  And the influence won't just be isolated to Apple.  Others like Google and Microsoft will be impacted as well. While the linked posts focused on the iPhone, you have to know that there is more to it than that.  Apple recently added to its Mac OS a few social and video sharing features native to China, like Weibo In the past, there were talks that a major hangup between Apple and China Mobile was largely due to CM's request to add apps and revenue sharing for apps which Steve Jobs has explicitly ruled out.  So, the direction of iOS development could be influenced further as Apple has staked its future in the Middle Kingdom. How about other mobile players like Google and Microsoft. ...

Would you be interested if iOS can one day (it probably will) be powerful enough (it probably already is) to become a full-sized Mac. Well, I think I just kinda of answered that question for myself. And I got this idea after spend some time with the Atrix at the ATT store when I was pre-ordering the 3G iPad 2 a week ago and I saw it at a Starbucks over the weekend. And I'm not the first one to come up with this idea for the Mac or the iOS devices. But I'm writing this post on my brand new Macbook Air. Boy it is light. And if Apple were to morph future iPads into a sort of a laptop with a dock. A while back, some blog, I forgot which one, even thought it might be a neat idea if Apple was to get rid of the trackpad and in its place, allow the user to dock their iPhone or iPod touch. From there, the user can synch data and use the touchscreen as the trackpad. Obviously, that is not likely to happen given the complexity of this setup. Steve Jobs would never allow it...

By now, you know that Apple is doing quite well in some countries, more than the 3-4% of global sales that some firms like to publish. In fact, if you include iPad into the mix, as these same firms equate netbooks as regular laptops, Apple would be the largest PC maker in the world. In fact, Apple has 15% of the OS market in the US. But this charge here is a clear demonstration of just how far Apple has come in general and specifically, the Mac. That's right, this is about the Mac. And the Mac isn't going anywhere as many bloggers and tech pundits fear. Now, not to rehash what you probably know through your day's browsing, but I want to focus just on how Apple can further make inroads into the psyche of the other mobile users. And let's face it, from now on, it's about laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Actually, in Apple's case, it's Macbooks, iPads, and iPhones. (Oh, and let's not forget the iPod touches. However, the touches do not get t...

I will be buying an iPad 2 as a retirement present for my mom. However, I’ll be pass on this version for myself, not because I think there will be something better in six months but it’s simply that I don’t need it right this moment. And I am happy with the original iPad. But more than that, I’ve got an iPod touch that has pretty much the only major complaint I have with the original iPad: cameras. And with the iPod touch with my iSpot, I can Skype on the go. Because the iSpot, while, access mobile Internet through cell signals, it is essentially a mobile hotspot. It’s even a better arrangement than the iPhone 4 with either of the two US carriers. The only thing that would have enticed me to upgrade would have been a Retina Display. And if you use even just a bit of brain, you would know that while having an HD or Retina display is in the works, we’re not going to see it in this upgrade or even the next. It’s simply just too expensive right now to manufacture. Plus, I don’t thi...

First, I know nothing about what Apple is going to say in advance for March 2nd unveiling of the "iPad 2".  Zero.  Nada.  I'm not even going to get into what others say Apple will unveil.  Frankly, they're just delicious rumors for blog readers.  I'm gonna get ahead and make my own predictions and analyze each point and how iPad 2 is going to specifically influence the tablet market and the mobile market in general. March 2nd Event:  I'll have my venti mocha from Starbucks, wait for 10am PST.  I would have gotten the day's work done earlier in the morning just so I can spend the rest of the day pouring over the analyses, blogs, and, of course, even offering an opinion or two of my own on Apple's latest and greatest.   What is different this year is that Steve Jobs won't be there.  It'll likely be Tim Cook, Apple's headmaster until Steve returns.  He'll run through the numbers on Apple's successes over the Holiday quarter, the recep...

Reuters has confirmed that Steve Jobs was indeed present at the dinner with the President of the United States in San Francisco tonight. That is fantastic news. And I hope President Obama was able to have a serious conversation about America's technological lead and innovative energy. Earlier, I write that I hope some sort of discussion about green technology took place. And it is interesting that Reuters dedicated a whole piece on Steve Jobs and nothing on the actual content of the night's discussion. But as I read the post, I came to realized that this maybe nothing more than to provide the President political cover with those who believe he has lost the support of America's businesses. That this meeting is more about the President's future and 2012 than America's future. I cannot understand what meaningful contribution the CEOs of Twitter and Netflix has to offer on maintaining America's technological edge and learning. Nor can I fathom what Facebook's ...

My needs are simple as far as what I want from Apple on Wednesday. I don't mind being blown away but I sort want to see Apple move in the direction I think Steve Jobs and friends has been planning for years. The full integration of iOS and OS X. For a few years since Apple made available the iOS SDK, there is something that has been working very well that no one has given it much notice unless you're an app developer and something that I was exposed to as I give programming a try. The iPhone simulator. It works great and with the advanced multitouch pad and OS X gaining a lot of iOS features, it only makes sense for Apple to allow iPhone and iPad apps to run on Macs. This is a natural evolution But it would be a revolutionary concept. And imagine the sales pitch with this one. Get a Mac and you can run iOS apps. Or got a Mac? You can download apps from iTunes and if you get an iOS device, you can take those apps on the go! Is this going to happen? Frankly, this has just as m...

You may have heard by of the great journalism exhibited by Bloomberg in quoted a Japanese equivalent of the supermarket tabloids which had reported that Steve Jobs was caught trying to sneak ninja stars onto his private plane. Apparently, he was unable to convince the Japanese customs and airport security that it doesn't make sense for him to hijack his own plane. Anyway, Apple responded by saying that Steve Jobs is not a ninja. Sure, Steve. The black turtle neck. Total dead giveaway, dude. Anyway, it's what happened after Steve's plane lands in the US that we learned what really happened. Upon landing, Steve calls Larry and said, "I'm never doing you any more favors. 'Hey, 'bring back me some ninja stars, Steve. It's totally gonna be okay...everyone in Japan carries one in their wallet...just like everyone's got an iPod in their pocket'. Frak you!" Don't ask me where I got that recording...okay, you got me. I'm a ninj...

I don't know what to make of what we saw yesterday. Fantastic update to the old work horse lineup? Definitely. A hobby inches towards being another pillar of the Apple digital strategy. You bet. My order of the iPod Touch? Yup. Well, no. Yes, sorta. We'll see. That's where I am right now. After work, I called the Pasadena Apple store to find out when the new gears will be in store. Next week I'm told. Fine, I think I will go in and check things out before I jump headlong into this. I had ordered a 32GB iPod Touch almost right after Steve Jobs finished up yesterday music event. Then later in the afternoon, I cancelled it. Not because I had a change of heart but I really do want to go into the store to see for myself the quality of the video capture and use of the Facetime feature. Yeah, I have used the Facetime feature in the iPhone but this is the iPod Touch. And as with any new Apple product, you'll want to make sure Apple has gotten the kinks out...

I got a chance to play with the Blackberry Torch today. Not a bad device. Okay, I'm sure the e-mail part is as good as before but that's about all there is to say about it. The new Blackberry OS is a welcoming upgrade but still hard to navigate. So the reviews have been more kind than they really are even though on the whole, reviews haven't been great. I think people didn't forget how long it took to get here and how far still it has to go. Having said that, wouldn't it be something if Apple came out with an iPhone K, K for "keyboard" that has a similar form. Know this, this would blow the lid off the market. Millions upon millions of users will immediately quite Blackberry and switch over to the new iOS device. Okay, okay, I know. Steve Jobs isn't too keen on this and we will never see an iPhone with physical keyboards. This is all about the vast investments in multi-touch that has actually worked out very well for Apple. Nevertheless,...

I'm on the camp that T-Mobile is likely to get the iPhone next before Verizon. Two reasons why. T-Mobile uses GSM like ATT and that really says it all. Plus, T-Mobile is the smallest of the major national networks in the US and they're usually pretty open to "experimentation" if you will. And another point. T-Mobile's HSPA+ network is live now for 80 million users and will expand to 180 by the end of 2010. Going this route is easier than the CDMA route. The other reason is that Steve Jobs probably doesn't like the way VW spurn Apple in the past and the Droid campaign last year didn't help much. Having said that, Apple will have VW iPhones because as much as Apple like to hold grudges, it knows it is in a major mobile with multiple competitors with one or two with as much innovative energy as it does. Still, moving T-Mobile ahead of VW for a quarter of two just to sting Verizon a bit is fine by me. So, I'm still betting on T-Mobile because of ...

In reading a CNet article about how iOS features can make it on to the Macs, I thought of how Apple can use the iPhone to sell more Macs than the halo-effect the iDevices have already generated for the rest of Apple's business. Allow anyone who owns an iDevice, including the iPhone, iPad, or the iPod Touch, to use their apps on the Mac and only the Mac. For the hundreds of thousands if not millions of Macbook owners, wouldn't it be great to use our apps with our Macbooks with the multitouch trackpads? This would sell tons of Macbooks. But hey,I don't to leave out iMac, Mac mini, and the Mac pro either. There was talking last week of some sort of a multitouch pad for the desk-bound Macs. This pad will enable every Mac to use iOS4 apps. Once more, Apple will be smart to make this a Mac specific feature. The question is how likely is this to happen? Not likely. But as the saying goes, improbable but not impossible. At D8 and during his WWDC keynote, Steve Jobs s...

I don't get it. The President while running to be the Democratic nominee for the office of POTUS didn't hear a lapel pin with the US flag until the media made a big deal about it. Maybe we need to make a big deal of the fact that he's got a Blackberry instead of an iPhone. What do you say? Blackberry is made by RIM, a Canadian firm. So why isn't the President using an iPhone made by an American company. Plus, it's night and day when it comes to the mobile experience using the iPhone versus the Blackberry. Case in point. After ATT announced the new mobile data plan, I heard more than a couple of posts saying that Blackberries might have something to gain because it doesn't use as much data as the iPhone. Duh! It's because the Blackberry isn't even in the same class as the iPhone. The iPhone is a true mobile computing device that happens to be able to make calls. The Blackberry is a smartphone that is struggling to do more than make calls ...

It's not all juicy information. We find out that the iPad was a tablet before it gave way to the iPhone. Enjoy. Orgin of the iPad: Getting Back Stolen iPhone and Gunning For Gizmodo: On Google, Android, iPhone: Everyone Can Blame Flurry For iAd Restriction:

At D8, Steve Jobs was asked about competition with Google. Steve Jobs said Google went to mobile to compete with Apple. And that Apple will not go into the search business to go after Google. While that is technically correct with search as we know it, I believe Apple's recent purchase of Siri represents a direction which no search engines will be able to follow. Apple will be going one step (many steps as a matter of fact) beyond search and into virtual personal assistant (VPA). With a VPA, it will reside on your mobile device and basically do things for you that no calendar or search engine along can do. I never had a chance to play with the Siri app but with a sophisticated AI system, it will help the user provide a richer mobile experience and, over time, it gets better with use as it learns the user's habits and needs. And should you ask your VPA to do a few searches, well then, it'll just have to search. Maybe it'll involve Apple creating its own search...

That's right.  The iPad made it to the Late Show.  Is that a big deal?  Well, at a chance of being ridiculed?  Sure.  You'll never see Steve Jobs there but you will see the iPad. Here's a clip: Sorry, as you can see, the video got cut off. You can watch the video directly on Youtube here . Source: MacDailyNews (Must bookmark them if you haven't already)

No one knows if Steve will be back as CEO of the company. I don't know either and I frankly don't are so long as he's still around to make the big decisions. And here's why I think Steve will be around for a long time to come. According to Information Week, a source familiar with Apple's government sales plan said Jobs and certain Apple executives were granted security clearance by the federal government. Why provide Steve Jobs clearance if he isn't coming back to Apple? You don't just grant security clearance like it's some kind of knighthood. And let's assuming for a sec that Apple is treating the NSA and the military like they treat the rest of us, basically, telling them Steve's health is a personal matter. I have to assume that for the folks fighting and trying to keep America safe, they would have some intel on the status of Steve's welfare before giving him security clearance. Finding out about Jobs' medical situation isn...

This just in.   Steve Jobs of Apple Inc will take a leave of absence citing distraction his health situation has created.  In the letter, Jobs indicated his health situation was more "complex" than initially thought.   Tim Cook will take over day-to-day duties. Source:   Yahoo News (AP) Note:  After Jobs initial explanation a couple of weeks ago, many doctors were quoted in the media wondering if Jobs' cancer had returned.  Then, a hormonal issue as stated by Jobs was easily remedied.  Wish you the best, Steve.  See you in June!