iCloud: How iCloud Sync Files And Who Has Access

Here's a simple write-up from TUAW that explains just how iCloud deals with files and how it syncs them to all your devices.  It's worth a read if you're concerned about how your files will be treated.  More specifically, which versions of updates win out.

Siri - If We Can Only Rename Our Assistant

The key to iPhone 4S is Siri, our personal assistant who won't judge us and lives to serve us.  But while Siri is an unique name,  I would like to be able to rename it.

I'm sure this feature along would wow the next Apple keynote event, be it for the iPad 3, WWDC, or just bring Siri to the Mac.

So, how about it, Apple?  Give us that personal touch - let us name our Siri.  I'm also interested in the ability to customize the voice for Siri.

iPad: Facebook App Is Here - Who Cares?

The Facebook app for the iPad is here.  Does it matter?  Maybe if you use it a lot and wanna waste more of your time away on it, then okay, this is a big deal.

Here are a couple of screen shots I took from the iPhone 4.

I think the gaming that the app brings is very interesting from a curiosity standpoint and how "HTML 5" this all really is.  Supposedly, this is all based on a new gaming and Web platform that Facebook has been working on with Apple's help.

What else do you get?

• Higher rez pics
• Better navigation (we'll see)
• Ability to spy on your friends (I've got Foursquare for that).
• Again, gaming...most interesting addition.

What I don't see is better privacy but coming from Facebook, that'll never happen.

If this is your cup of tea, its available in the iTunes store or your app store on your iOS devices now. For the rest of us, it's "meh" update.  

Acer Acer's S3 Ultrabook: How Not To Compete With Macbook Air

The brand new Acer competitor to the Macbook Air is $100 less!  Really?  That's all you can bring to the game, Acer?  I'm sure the specs and everything else is better, right?  Sacrificing margin to compete, no?

Wrong.  According to Electronista, this Acer ultrabook is, again, $100 cheaper than the lowerest priced Macbook Air.  But it's not a fair comparison because this UB, Acer Aspire S3, has a 13" screen.  The 13" Macbook Air starts at $1299, which is $300 more than this UB from Acer.

Go for the Acer, right?  Definitely not. Remember a few months ago when Intel was pushing the ultrabook to compete with the Air?  Well, the PC makers revolted, saying that Intel would need to lower its chip prices in order for them to compete with Apple.  I reckon at the time that Intel was not likely to make enough of a sacrifice to allow the PC makers to compete with Apple.

Hence, the PC guys would need to make their own compromises.  And these compromises in the S3 shows.

Intead of a 1440x900 resolution like the Air, the S3 has a 1366 x 768 resolution.  Instead of a 128 MB SSD, it opted for a 20 GB SSD.  However, it does make up for the smaller SSD with a 320 GB regular hard drive.

Instead of 7 hours of battery life, the S3 will sport 6 hours.  However, Apple and Acer have vastly different battery life standards.  For instance, in my 11" Macbook Air, I can get up to 8-9 hours of battery life if I use it in the way PC makers measure their own battery life.  That alone would blow the doors off this S3's battery life.  So, we are not talking about Apple-to-Apple comparisons here.

Furthermore, the Air has the new Thunderbolt port, better audio, BT 4.0, and runs OS X along with iCloud integration.  and back-led keyboard.  And first impressions of S3 from blogs showed that the compromises Acer is known for showed on the UB as well.  When bloggers are using words like "trade-off" and "plasticky", it's not a good start.

As usual, Acer is leading the way with "good enough" and "hope customers won't notice too much" attitude when it comes to competing with Apple.  Perhaps, if Intel really wants to push the ultrabook as a Macbook Air competitor, maybe it should take a book out of Google's page.

Google has its own line of Android devices, the Nexus phones. that serve as templates for other device makers to follow.  Intel and Microsoft should consider doing the same thing.  

Form Factor Changes – I Don’t Think We’ll See Much More

I think there is a race to go thinner and lighter.  I think that’s all great but it is really coming at a sacrifice of the mobile experience and performance.  Ideally, we want our mobile devices to half as thin and nearly weightless in our hands.  All that without sacrificing the speed and battery life.  Then after that we want them to be even thinner yet again.

Fine, someday.  That day will come.  With the speed of tech advancements today, it’ll probably come sooner rather than later.  However, there is a threshold that each company like Apple, Nokia, and Samsung pushes up to each time and will not be able to exceed until the following year until technology advances enough for them to push that envelope again.

But within that threshold, there is only so much they can do.  Check out where we were and where we are today.

It reminds me of when role playing gamers create their characters.  They have points that they can assign to different attributes or skills. Strength, guile, attack, ability to cast magic spells, or some other specialty skills.

I reckon it may well be something similar in tech.  You can make your device thinner or you can make the battery life longer but not both.  You can make it faster or you can make it lighter but not both.  Obviously, in between those choices, there are degrees with which engineers can mess around with until they find an acceptable balance.

Wanna bigger screen?  Then you’ll need to change the body, obviously.  That could also mean you have more room to play with but it also means it’ll be heavier and cost more.  Will your customers accept that?  Or will you lower your margins?

What about using glass or simply good-old plastic?

It’s not easy.  Otherwise, every single device out there will be an iPhone or Galaxy S II, two of the arguably best mobile devices on the market.  For those who are chastising Apple for making the iPhone 4S look exactly like the iPhone 4, you try to do better.  Or for those who say that Samsung is copying Apple’s look and feel, you try to do better.

Touchpad Versus the iPad 2 (And Other Tablets With Lots More Apps) - Some Perspectives After a Week's of Use

This is an email I've sent Dave the Mobile Sage this morning:

One of the most interesting thing about the iPad over the Mac is that I don't have as much distraction as it is on the laptop. Not that there is a death of apps. It's the the fundamental change in its use. Maybe it's the switching back and forth between apps.  


And in using the Touchpad over the last week, I find the distraction on the Touchpad even less than on the iPad. That is because it is because of the dearth of apps.

Well, I'm sure this was not HP's intention to begin with.  I've been able to write my novels, write blogs, communicate with friends via the IM app, and surf the Web and keep up with what's going on around the Internet.

What I cannot do is play a lot of the games in the iPad when I'm don't have it with me.  What I cannot do is watch many of the videos on Hulu or Netflix.  What I cannot do access a lot of the tablet-ready apps for my workflow.  I have had to figure out new ways to access information that was easier to do on the iPad.

It is the lack of distraction on the Touchpad I find more interesting.  And I owe it all to the lack of apps.  I'm not saying that is a good thing.  It's actually a bad thing because the Touchpad has a lot of potential.

Not "had".  I still like to think that someone like Amazon will take Palm and Web OS off HP's hands and turn it into something great again.

Regardless of whether you're an Apple, Google, or Microsoft fan, the more competition we have in the market, the better.  Up next is Android 4.  I have high hopes for it, just like I did for Web OS.

Well, back to my distraction free Touchpad when I out for my coffee run tonight.

Apple's Chip Gamble Could Yield Great Benefits

Apple is dedicating hundreds of thousands of man-hours and a lot of engineering resources to develop its next generation of mobile chips, hoping to put some more space between itself and its competitors.

So far, Apple's A5 chips have an advantage in generational operations while maintaining up to 7x in graphics operations.  But Nvidia has some wonderfully nasty quad-core chips that are due out in a couple of months.

Apple's own answer to that chip is likely months away but will it be something that we can be willing to way for?  Apple's working on chips in new innovative ways that may mean a core-war but it could always mean Apple trying to make sure its mobile lead continues with tighter mobile integration.

Source: Greenjava.

Why I Want To Get The iPhone 4S - Video Promo

I've seen this video twice already. And I'm happy I ordered my iPhone 4S and won't regret it.

And when you see the video, you'll agree. First, Siri won't judge you. And second, the camera!

Apple And/Or Disney Should Buy Rights To Steve Jobs Biopic

Sony is paying for the rights to Steve Jobs movie based on the upcoming authorized biography, Steve Jobs, by Walter Isaacson.

I think it would be more appropriate for Apple to produce the movie and offer it through iTunes only. Or even have Disney do it.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Sprint To Kill Off WiMax And Go LTE - This Could Hurt

When Steve Jobs came back to Apple, he did a few things that were considered unpopular at the time.  He looked off products – including the popular Newton PDA and eMate, good products that were not selling well.  Today, Sprint did something similar – it killed WiMax and in its place promised to build out an LTE network of its own.

What will happen to all those WiMax devices and hotspots?  Well, it's like they'll be able to keep using their WiMax wireless access for some time, at least until Sprint can finish its LTE network.  Sprint has said it will stop selling WiMax devices after 2012.  

http://old.news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111007/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_sprint_network

And Sprint had no choice.  And things might get worse before it gets better.  Therefore, it's why it has placed a huge bet that the iPhone will help ease the pain.  Interestingly, it has not said anything about the millions of Android users on its network with a WiMax device and what will happen to them after that.

They can likely fall back on the slower 3G CDMA network.  However, that isn't going to make them very happy once WiMax services ceases.  It's possible that Sprint could offer them LTE equipment upgrades in two to three years.  

Let's hope that Sprint is able to deliver and make the transition as smoothly as possible.  

Note:  I wonder why now.  Why not six months before or a year ago?