International iPad 2 Launch Should Go On As Planned But Don't Expect Much

CNet is wonder just how things are going to be like for international mobile warriors looking to hook themselves up (or sell them on eBay) with the new iPad 2.

Well, I think they should not have to worry about that. Apple isn't likely to jerk us around like that. However, I would start lining up. You guys, the lucky few who are slated for the next round of launch like Britain and Japan, will get the new iPads just like Steve jobs said but supplies will be limited.

No. Let me back that up. Supplies will be severely limited.

What prompt this is the fact that online orders from Apple is now a 3-4 weeks wait.

Just a recap for those who just want the high lights of the iPad 2 launch so far: the iPad 2 went on sale last Friday, March 11th - online at 1AM PST (4AM EST) while in-stores sales at Apple Store, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy started at 5PM local time.

The local stores, including Apple stores, quickly drew lines and were sold out quickly. I can attest to that.

I was able to place my iPad 2 orders online around 1:10AM with ease. After examining the forums and comments of various blogs, I was able to determine that for the next couple of hours, the ship time was 3-5 days with an estimated delivery date between March 18th - 25th.

The situation quickly deteriorated as people wake up and the lead time went to 1-2 weeks. Before long, the wait timebeas extended to 3-4 weeks.

As it stands now, most local places are dry. ATT locations are accepting orders with a 2-3 week wait while Verizon has a 3-4 week wait.

Sucks, I know.


-- Post From My iPad

Why I’ll Be Buying An iPad 2 But Not For Myself

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 think the yield would have been all that great.

Having said all this, I encourage everyone else to take a look at the iPad 2 if having a camera for video chat is something you’ve been waiting for even if you don’t have an iPad. Again, the reason I’m not upgrading is because I have the latest iPod touch that does have a frontal camera for video chitchat.

If you’ve read my previous posts, you’ll see that I’m good with the iPad’s ability to serve my mobile needs. And with two iOS devices, I can literally multitasking between two devices.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Siri: Will We See Voice/Speech Integration in iOS 5?

I use Apple's Siri app on occasion.  And it's a decent app for process that pulls information from various sources.  However, I wonder if Apple will finally do more with it in iOS 5. After all, spending $200 million to buy it out must really mean that there is value in the app and the talent behind its development that the top echelon at Apple saw.

It is a very useful app as it is if you have never used it.  It's a voice query app and I have spend some time here and there to see what I can do with it.  

First, you can tap and say what you want to ask.  If the question is within reason, like "where am I?", Siri thinks for a bit and offers you what it thinks is the best answer.  When I asked it where my current location was, it showed me a map of where I am.  

And for lunch, I was able to ask Siri where is the location to the restaurant I'm suppose to meet up with my friends.  It was a very easy process.  No typing required.  

That's great, right?  But I want to see voice input/command more tightly integrated into iOS 5.  After all, the ability to do this is developing quite nicely on Android.  I am certain Apple can offer similar services for its core OS.

The only thing I can think of why Apple has not do so is because it plans on doing voice in that unique Apple way that will amaze us.  But time is short.  Apple risk falling further behind Google which has invested much resources in this direction.  

One issue that I see Apple working on is just how the artificial intelligence, for a lack of a better term, can react to the user.  Sure, I am sure Apple can implement the ability for the user to speak into his or her iOS device and have a SMS or e-mail typed up and sent.  Or even search for answers as we can now on Siri in a more integrated manner.  

But for Apple, that is merely doing what Android can already do.  No one would be impressed with that.  It must go beyond that.  I believe Apple will attempt to create an "understanding" between the iOS and the user.  

• Learn from the user's disposition.   
• Learn the user's speech and accent.
• Provide this service beyond just English or Spanish.  Chinese voice/speech integration is likely something Apple is working hard on as Mandarin is quickly become one of the most important language in education and commerce.
• Ease of use will be an issue.  With Android, you will have to activate speech commands.  I wonder if Apple will find a way to make the process more seamless.  Using Siri requires the user to launch the app.  It isn't different from how we would use any other app but Apple will need to make much more natural.  I don't know how.  For instance, after speaking to Siri, the user has to tap the screen to let Siri know that the question has been completed.
• Apple has to make speech/voice usage more natural and common. 
• Apple has to make it so that people will want to use it.  

As you can see, Apple has a lot of work and perhaps, there isn't enough time between acquiring Siri, adding new features, and eventually integrating it into iOS.  

For general uses, Siri is adequate but beyond a certain level of understanding, Siri has difficulties understanding what I want.  And if anyone can truly build a digital companion that provide answers to queries of users in an effortless way, it'll be Apple.

AT&T's "4G" Network Is Nothing To Write Home About

I inherited Mom's 3G iPad last week as she waits for iPad 2 with the better resolution and frontal camera so that she can conduct video chats for work and with friends. I have been using a Wi-Fi only version and more recently, bought an. iSpot for use with it to get the wireless Internet access.

And while ATT prides itself on having the fastest 3G network in the United States, I cannot be sure if that means much. And here is why.

In one day's use and based on past experiences with ATT in the past and with T-Mobile's own network and now Clearwire's WiMax service, I am in a good position to pass a long a few conclusions.

Today, WiMax is excellent if you can get it. It is wicked fast. I consistently get about 4.5 Mbps. When T-Mobile turned on their HPSA+ network last year, I went from about 1MBps on the Android G1 to about 3 Mbps. And my understanding is that things have vastly improved by quite a bit. We could be looking at speeds up to 20 Mbps by the end of 2011.

These two current scores are in contrast with an average of 2 Mbps that I am getting on the 3G iPad. There was about three bars.

However, all the speed on the world means nothing if you can't good signals. And while I might be able to see a couple of bars, I can't say that I am happy with the 3G speed from AT&T. On the iPad, I am still unable to get anything close to the WiFi signal through the iSpot or the G1 acting as a MiFI versus just the 3G on Ma Bell.

I still don't understand why that is the case. This is something that I'll probably need to get Dave the Mobile Warrior to chime in on this.

And this is a huge deal going forward. Presumably, the next iPad may have native wireless access to Verizon's CDMA network along side AT&T. Unless it is able to somehow shorten the latency time or flip a switch to boost signal, it will not matter if users cannot access AT&T's HSPA+ speed running 14-21 Mbps while the slower CDMA networking running 1-2 Mbps is accessible by users on the same area.

Trust me, Verizon will be going after potential iPhone switchers from AT&T. A side-by-side comparison of signal strength could be just what Verizon is eagerly waiting for.


-- Post From My iPad

Preliminary Impression of iSpot

After some hairy moments with Fedex on the delivery of my iSpot, I finally got in after days of back and forth with more customer service agents than I hope to deal with.

And yeah, I am very happy with this mobile investment. In fact, I was able to get it up and running in less than 5 minutes of opening up the box the iSpot came in.

Current State of Mobile Computing: Tablet or Laptop

Depending on who you talk to you and who you believe, the netbooks, perhaps even lsptops, are taking a sales hit because of the iPad.

Perhaps. Then there are those who are not so sure this is happen on a large scale. Given the potential that Apple may be on the verge of a $20 billion quarter and cuts on orders by dorm laptop and netbook makers, it has industry and mobile observers such as myself very excited.

Is this the beginning of the end of mobile computing as we know it?

More at Greenjava Mobility.

ATT: Liberalization of 3G Network, Soon Supporting Slingplayer

ATT is now saying that after working through things with Sling Media, the next update for the iPhone app will support 3G streaming. Let me repeat: once the update is available, you can stream video over ATT's 3G network using the iPhone app Slingplayer.

You pay $30 for an app, you kind of expect to be able to use it when you want to, where you want to, and how you want to, right? Well, if you're like me and you play $30 for the Slingplayer, you had to be tethered to a Wi-Fi access point or hotspot.

Well enough since just about everywhere these days have a wireless hotspot.  Starbucks, MacDonalds, Borders, and Barnes And Noble. What if you're not frequenting these social places or anywhere else where Wi-Fi access is unavailable? Well, you're out of luck.

What changed? Techno-magic. It's as simple as that. I'm not kidding. This is what ATT said in their press release: AT&T been been working collaboratively with Sling Media since December to test its revised SlingPlayer Mobile app, which has been recently optimized to more efficiently use 3G network bandwidth and conserve wireless spectrum. Optimization reduces the risk of the app causing congestion that could disrupt the experience of other wireless customers so, with that improvement, we will support it on our 3G mobile broadband network.

This subject specifically touch on the iPhone 3G and 3GS. How about the iPad? Hey, like Steve said, all of the 140,000 apps will work on the iPad. I'm guess that Steve also mean anything that works on the iPhone will translate over to the iPad. And this includes the ability to streaming video via the Slingplayer on the iPad 3G.

This liberalization is due to collaboration between AT&T and Sling Media as the press release says. So I have to ask this. What about other video streaming services on the Internet like Hulu and Netflix?

I'm going to do a bit of speculation here and say that Apple had a hand in it and probably is readying some sort of video streaming service in the second half of the year (there's too much going on already and it's not in Apple's DNA to try to confuse the consumer).

Plus, there are other factors that seem to be working towards this anyway. This new development followed closely on the heel of Apple's changes to the iPhone OS to support VOIP over 3G. I don't know about you but even if you don't care for 3G video streaming (there was already some apps doing this) and chatting over the Internet, this really flies in the face of all the complaints against Apple and AT&T.

I surmise this is in some part due to competitive pressure from the likes of Android and Verizon Wireless. So I think we'll see more wireless and access developments leading up to June, when Apple's likely to introduce their next generation iPhone.

More at 9to5mac.  You can google this subject if you like to know more about it.  Frankly, it's a waiting game for me.  Waiting for the 3G-enabled Slingplayer and waiting for the iPad 3G.

Car Dealers With Complimentary Wi-Fi Access

Okay, as strange as it sounds, Starbucks, superbook stores, and malls aren't the only place that offers Wi-Fi access to patrons.

Car dealerships and oil change places like EZ-Lubes also provide Wi-Fi.  You're asking why anyone would want to go there just to access the Internet.  Ordinarily, you wouldn't.  I'm not a big car guy.  But once in a while you have to take it down to the dealership for some maintenance work.  Sometimes, it's 30 minutes.  Other times, it could take a few hours especially if you don't have an appointment.

Still, there are times when you're there with your spouse, family, or friend looking to buy a new car.  The dealing and haggling can take a few hours.  I was once there for more than half a day.  Could I have used Internet access then?  You betcha!

Plus, some dealerships also have fast food joints and coffee houses for patrons that had to spend hours there at a time.  It's actually quite brilliant for all involved.  And it certainly makes taking the car in for servicing less of a chore.  A few of them even gave games on during the weekends so folks aren't missing their favorite team in action.

Also, about a year ago, I was sitting in EZ-Lube waiting lounge and I opened up my then Powerbook to hack out some notes.  I turned on the Wi-Fi to see if I can access the hotspot at a nearby Starbucks.  To my surprise, I found an open network from EZ-Lube.

Anyway, I'm wait for supermarkets to follow these examples.  I believe Whole Foods offer Internet access but other supermarkets like Ralph and Vons have renovated their stores with seating areas for patrons.  As you know by now, I often go to supermarkets during hot summer months because of the air conditioning and easy access to food and drinks.  There are even Coffee Beans and Starbucks in some of the stores.

The only shortcoming is that none of the ones I go to offer Wi-Fi access.

Apple Mobile: Game Changer? You Bet!

Right now, Apple accounts for 1/3 of all Wi-Fi use by one measurement and 25% of all music sold in the United States.

And to top it off, iTunes accounts for almost 70% of digital music sold.  69% To be exact.  That means other attempts by music labels and iTunes-wannabes (ahem, Amazon, ahem) has done nothing to change how much folks embrace Apple's mobile and music strategy.

I am certain that DRM-less change and the ability for iPhone and iPod Touch users to download music wirelessly helped.

But what's incredible how iTunes continues to dominate the market.  It makes me wonder just who are buying all these music from iTunes?  But I have to offer a cautionary note.  Music industry growth aside, there may come a time when digital growth may peak or slow.  That means don't expect to see 25% share that Apple currently enjoy is going go be 30% next year or the year after that.

A large percentage of the US music buying is still being done offline.  Meaning CDs.

Now, 1/3 of all Wi-Fi traffic are going through Apple's devices?  That's from 14% last year to 32% this year.  This is a seriously beig "wow".  And this isn't just coming from Apple.  Wireless devices from other companies are also doing well.  It's just that Apple is doing better than everyone else.

The information from Appleinsider is a bit confusing and short on details.  So we'll have to go to Meraki for the charts and details.

• Apple's Wi-Fi grew at 221%, nearly 68K devices from 21K
• Nearly 1/3 of Wi-Fi traffic is from Apple devices
• RIM devices grew 419% but merely 2% of all devices.  Though it seems to be a huge jump, it means hardly anyone was using their Blackberries to connect to the Internet.  This could be a troubling sign for RIM.
• What's worry for Nokia is it only grew 100%.  

Link:  Appleinsider

Slingplayer on EDGE (T-Mobile's T-Zone)

It's done.  Slingplayer is now working with T-Mobile's T-Zone.

But as you probably guessed, it didn't work right out of the box...ah...download.  It took some tweaking, frantic calls to Dave the mobile warrior, and persistence to get it finally working.

It simply irks me that in this day and age we are limited by terms dedicated by self-professed wireless overlords who are fine with milking what they can from us with public spectrum.  But that's another issue.  The main issue is that I refuse to abide by those terms.  And I whole-heartedly encourage my fellow mobile warriors to put ATT on notice.  In your own manners.

Now, back to Slingplayer.  I'm putting together a video that I'll have on youtube tonight or tomorrow showing Slingplayer for the iPhone working on the wireless network.  You'll notice it's on T-Mobile and not ATT.  Well, others have gotten Slingplayer to work on ATT's 3G network.

Quality.  How is it?  Well, it works well enough.  The quality, I don't know if you'll be able to see it on the video later today, is adequate for EDGE-like speed.  There a lot of buffer.  A few times, it would buffer every 30 seconds, while other times, I had streaming without any issue.

It's my belief that had ATT not crippled Slingplayer, it is conceivable that Sling would have made efforts for wireless streaming.  Now, that's less likely to be the case.

Oh, and it works fantastically over Wi-Fi.  No buffering at all.

I got Slingplayer working on the iPod Touch a day after it appeared in the App Store.  Piece of cake.  Five stars out of five.  Getting SP to work on the 2G iPhone required that I update the underlying OS to 2.2.1 (it was at 2.2).

My Mac Mini was kept at OS X 10.5.5 and iTunes was version 7.  After downloading iPhone 2.2.1 and the latest QuickPWN (2.2.5) tool, I updated the iPhone and proceeded with the QuickPWN application.  That was when I ran into trouble.  During the process, I was met with the Steve Jobs cartoon and an error message from iTunes.  For those who have unlocked or jail-broken iPhones, some of you might know what I'm talking about.

Luckily, Dave the mobile warrior advised that I download iTunes 8 (latest version) and repeat the process.  It took a while to repeat the process.  Longer than I anticipated.  Eventually, iPhone 2.2.1 was installed on the 2G iPhone without incident.  I quickPWNed it.  After making sure that it worked as advertised, I synced the iPhone including Slingplayer.

Why QuickPWN?  It's to unlocking the iPhone to work with T-Mobile.  Just as important is to install VOIP3G that tricks the iPhone into believing that when it access the Internet, it is going through Wi-Fi when in fact it's going through EDGE (3G access for the 3G iPhone).  But I had issues with it so I downloaded another variant.  I think I used Tricker 3G.  I don't have access to the iPhone as I'm writing this entry but it's a simple enough matter to search for "3G" on Cydia.

After syncing ("synching" is also correct, BTW), I met up with a couple of college friends to watch Star Trek.  It was pretty good.  A bit rushed in my opinion.  It was really made to recruit a new generation of Trekies.  Sorry. Back to the Slingplayer on the iPhone.

Next step was setting up Slingplayer with my account information.  After going through the setup (very simple), the video started to stream.  Love it!

And the added benefit to this is that Skype calling is also enabled.  I had a few calls domestically and no one had any idea that I was call them via EDGE.

So, would I recommended going through this?  Well, that's entirely up to you.  Personally, it was more the rebel in me than anything else.  I just hate being screwed over and I'm sure a lot of you feel the same.  I'm sure there is an enterprising attorney out there now looking to see if ATT violated anti-competitive laws (word on the street is that while ATT is truly concerned about 3G overload, they are also paving way to offer their own TV service) and the FCC looking into this matter.

If you do give this a try, love to hear what you think of the quality.

iPhone Owners: Free Wi-Fi at ATT Hotspots Again

According to Gizmodo, folks with iPhone and still use ATT services (not T-Mobile) should be able to access ATT hotspots again, like at Starbucks.

This is terrific news.  And it's about time.  There have a Jekyll-And-Hyde thing going with ATT giving iPhone owners access to hotspots.

Let's hope this time, it sticks.

Also, if you're an iPod Touch owner, and you feel left out, Starbucks offers a couple of hours of free service if you buy coffee or use your Starbucks card.  And also, if you have DSL through ATT, you also get free access to ATT hotspots.

Things are looking good once again.

Via Gizmodo

Note:  G1 owners also get access to T-Mobile's hotspots for free.  Well, it's part of your service.