AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Everyone knows that when Apple increase the GB storage on the iPad with a $100 increase does not really mean that Apple's memory cost also double.  If anything, Apple is making more money when an user buys a 32 GB model of the iPad or iPhone over the 16 GB models.  And users are happy to fork over to Apple $100 for the 32 GB, $200 more for the 64 GB model, and $300 more for the 128 GB version.  I did with the iPad Air. There are a couple of implications for Apple and mobile computing.  Both speaks volumes about where we are headed. First, Apple's margins should increase for this quarter.  Why is this important to a blog only about state of Apple mobile?  It says that Apple is skating to where the puck is going to be and not where its at now.  So far, we don't see any competing devices at the 128 GB end and only a few mobile devices with 64 GB.  The Surface tablets have about the same amount of storage in name as the iPads but because of the bl...

Source:   PrimeSense ,  Reuters . Today, the Web exploded with news that Apple bought PrimeSense, the company that develops 3D sensing technology for systems including mobile.  And it happens to be the company behind Microsoft's Xbox Kinect. So, what happens now and when will see something come to fruition from this buyout? Look beyond just the Xbox at who PrimeSense's partners are and you see why Apple showed interest in the company and decide to bring it into the fold. Microsoft, again.  Robotic companies like iRobot.   3D scanners that could become a bigger deal with 3D printing.   Asus with computers. Real world physical activities. Only Apple knows what it will do with this new buy.  It's unlikely Apple will just introduce a Kinect clone.  Apple does make and released products for the sake of doing it.  Apple has found an unique and identifiable use for PS technology, whether in its current line of products or new ones...

Source:   On Android . First there was the Nexus S.  Now the LG Flex. Samsung also has its own device but there isn't anything new about it - if you want to know, it's called the Round.  You can head over to The Verge for more info.  Between the two, I think the Flex's top-bottom curve makes more sense than the Round's side-to-side curvature. However, this is talk that Apple is interested in developing its own curved-screen iPhone.  It's a rumor and while I don't like to dish rumors here, for the sake of speculation, we will here. Let's suppose the rumors about Apple releasing a curved iPhone is true, it'll be interesting to see what real world advantages of curved screens has over traditional screens that Apple can develop. What kind of real world applications a curved iPhone might have over competing devices from the Android world. I've mentioned that reduced glare might be a possible advantage but there would need to be more for Apple to ...

Here's a must read Appleinsider post regarding just how analytical firms that sell themselves to the highest bidders to stack statistics their way.  What's interesting is a quote within one firm's, Strategy Analytics, client page that one of its missions is to "influencing consumer behavior and buying preferences". Time and time again, we've noticed that firms refuse to recognize Apple's growing dominance in the tablet market with the iPad and the influence its had on the PC market.  Time and time again, firms refuse to acknowledge the change in the mobile computing market in a shift away from PC towards more lighter and nimbler tablets, at the time, was only the iPad that sold in any number. The question is does Apple mobile fans care?  Probably not.  Only a subset of this group really care about these reports or keep scores.  For the general mobile market, those who are more educated about the differences between tablets, iPad versus others, know wh...

Source:   Make A Wish Foundation ,  Business Insider ,  Politico . Great news, folks.  Gotham City is once again safe.  Thanks to not Batman (he had a small part in it).  Not one of the various Robins.  Not Nightwing.  Nope, not Superman either.  Or the JLA.  It's Batkid!!! That's right!  Thanks to Make A Wish Foundation, more than 10K fellow Americans, and thousands if not millions of us on social media cheering him on, Batkid, aka Miles, roamed through Gotham (San Francisco) to save its citizens from evildoers. What's more, many are cheering him on via social media like Twitter.  Tweets from famous folks, politicans (some of them I like Batkid to deal with, and even the President of the United States. With little brother aka Robin. Choking back tears!  #sfbatkid   pic.twitter.com/apIpn9OUYn — patricia wilson (@pilarwish)  November 15, 2013 This has got to be one of the best stories of 2013. ...

It's safe to say that the federal government's rollout of the health insurance exchange has not gone well.  In fact, it's pretty dismal.  At the same time, they're hardly to be blamed for this.  Remember all those cloud services that Apple tried to unveil that didn't work? MobileMe, the early days of iCloud? I'm sure you can think of a few other examples of how things didn't work out well for private companies. And the health exchange is probably many times more complex.  This is why I don't get why Washington thought it could make it work from day one. Where was the beta testing with real people participation?  Google's Gmail has been in beta for years and I'm sure there are a few other apps that are still in beta? The health insurance exchange debacle is a very valuable lesson for government officials and entrepreneurs.  This reminds me of Google+ unveiling.  You needed an invitation to sign up.  And it was done over time probably to give...

Source:  The Verge . If you bought Xbox video, and you use Windows Phone 7 or Zune, you're going to be able to continue using it until Feb of 2014.  After that, nada. Microsoft gave some crap about how they improved on the video and offerings.  Translation:  if you wanna keep using Xbox content, get a new Windows Phone device, preferrably the Lumia which Microsoft effectively own. Zune?  I get that.  But Windows Phone 7.  Not so much.  It's still pretty new.  It's the OS that has been delayed over and over until Microsoft managed to ship it against some already entrenched smartphone heavyweights.  It, along with Blackberry, had owned the mobile market.  One theory I've got on why Microsoft is chucking WP7 now.  There were not many takers to begin with.  Kinda like Zune I guess.