AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

The iPhone 4S just went on sale in China. I am sure it's selling like hot cakes, regardless of what possible shortcomings Apple might have put into place to keep Beijing happy. For instance, I about my friends in China are able to sign into Twitter since the microblog site is essentially blocked. (I just sent out an inquiry on Weibo about Twitter what what possible replacement Apple might have or have not offered Chinese customers.) And while Facebook or twitter being blocked in China, Iran, and the likes, this is more of a censorship issue. Dealing with foreign censorship is something that Washington or the State Department should deal with But I like to see Apple tackle the privacy issue. I started using a new search engine called Duckduckgo . It's an alternative to Google, Bing, Yahoo, and others that make it their mission to track our travels across the Internet and sell that information essentially to their advertisers. Now, Apple has already put the stop to the newspa...

Here is a very pro-iPad GigaOM post but if you step back you can appreciate just how tablets in general has already changed how mobile warriors, particular mobile sales forces are able to accomplish more. The instant-on feature, long battery life, wireless connection, and essentially a laptop replacement are features that have the iPad going for it. On top of that the light-weight of the iPad is definitely a plus. Furthermore, all of what is the iPad allows the worker to accomplish its tasks more efficiently and spend more time away from the office. Obviously, tablets running on Android, Blackberry OS, or the forthcoming Windows 8 should be able to do the same. The question would be just how efficient they will be compared to the iPad. Another matter I like to bring up which the post didn't not address is the size of the iPad or other 10" tablets relative to productivity of the sales force. That is definitely something worth analyzing when smaller tablets go on the road in t...

More than 46 billion in revenue, 13 billion in profit, and, now, we learn that Apple has close to $100 billion in the bank in various cash and short-term investment vehicles, there has not been a shortage of what Apple ought to do with all that money "in the bank".  I know this much:  there will be no dividends or stock buybacks. It's not Apple's style.Tim Cook and Peter Oppenheimer told analysts during its financial call that the Apple board was in active discussion about what "constructive" ways Apple can use its cash, it gave folks hope that Apple is headed towards rewarding shareholders in one way or another.  Despite that, it's not happening. If Apple wanted to distribute money or buyback shares, it would have done it a long time ago.  A year ago even.   This is why I think Apple will put that money to work in ways that will solidify its future in mobile and ecommerce.  This will happen in such a way that even some of its cash rich competitors will ...

Siri is where the future's at. So this Su where I suggest where Apple should put its nearly $100 billion in cash and short-term investments: AI. As in artificial intelligence. And I'm not just talking about giving Siri an even more dazzling personality. I'm talking about robots. Androids. Sorry, I don't mean Google's mobile OS. See, this is where the future OS is at. Not OS XI or iOS 7 or 8 but a totally revolutionary OS that is intelligent all around. Something like Siri 5.0. One that can carry along a more natural conversation and truly act as a personal assistant. Eventually, it could be Apple's AI that power our homes and lives. That's where I would put a few billions.

According to Telegraph, 1/5 of Kindles are left unused after their collective unveiling at in Christmas morning.  I think this is an example of shady reporting, regardless of which reader or tablet you use. First, the post says nothing about the type of Kindle it is referring to.  It made it sound like they include in large part, the Kindle Fire. Now, you might suspect that this was a hit piece from an Apple or iOS fan. In the past, I would have thought that to be the case. However, with the forking of th Android platform, the writer could be a fan of just about any platform.   This includes Apple, even Mincrosoft, and, also very likely, a pure Android fan.   But 1/5, or 20% of all Kindles sold not bring touched ain't bad. Not good ad definitely not great but not bad either. Amazon has to do more to entice users and even educate Kindle owners what their devices can do.  I reckon that more of these abandoned Kindled are of the e-ink flavor and not the Fire. ...

Siri could be coming to other iOS devices.  Now, I'm not talking about iPad 2S or 3.  Nor am I talking about the future iPod touch update.  Rather, I'm referring to the current gen iPod touch, which happens to be the same as last year's version and the iPad 2. Here is an image capture via Cult of Mac with references to both the iPod touch and the iPad.  Now, it's a given that one day, Siri will propagate throughout Apple realm, even Macs.  That isn't the issue.  It's whether current hardwares on the market now, outside of the iPhone 4S, will also be Siri-capable. There is more at CofM on this.  The above pic is for the iPod as you can see on the top left corner.   It makes sense and also it's important that Apple begin to get Siri out of beta and to support more languages. This is most certainly a daunting task.  And it's just as urgent for Apple to get Siri into as many users of its growing hardware profile as soon as...

Apple fans, especially if you’ve got an iOS device or mobile phone, rejoice. Looks like Apple could be coming to a Target store near you. And I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say this. Apple could slow and surly be putting into place the means for users to not only buy Apple gears more easily but could also more easily allow iOS users to buy things with their iTunes accounts. You’re thinking “dude, what are you smoking” right about now. Here me out. Store within a store for Apple isn’t something new. In fact, it goes all the way back to ancient history: CompUSA. Yeah, like in the 90s. And then we have the Apple stores but Apple kept their little corner in Best Buys as well. But Target is uniquely different. It’s a general consumer retailers – food, consumer goods like clothes and furniture. Yup, Target does sell electronics and to my knowledge, I’ve never seen a Target selling computers before. And this could be an opportunity for Apple. More than that, a while bac...