AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Last month, Amazon became the proud owner of Comixology, a popular and likely the only source of mainstream comic books for the iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.  Didn't think much of it until today when the convenience of in-app purchases was stripped away in an update. Why? It's easy to understand why as Amazon is looking out for its bottom-line.  What's also obvious is that Amazon doesn't care about its customers in this regard.  Personally, I get both sides of why Amazon did this and why this move is very bad for loyal customers. As someone who makes purchases from Comixology, I have to say that I'm looking to alternative apps or sites to make my purchases.  If there is one out there, please share and let us know. I know that DC and Marvel both have their separate apps.  However, they are both powered by Comixology.  It's likely that only some sort of contractual agreement has made it impossible for Amazon to remove in-app purchases from tho...

I have to admit that I've got a bit of envy when it came to the HTC One from a year ago when I saw a friend with it.  However, despite his bravado, I knew that the battery life on the One was no better (in fact, I think it's worse) than other flagship devices from competitors like LG and Samsung.  And sure, the bigger screen on the One did elicit some envy, I did not think it was enough to get me excited and trade in for one (One's camera just was not not as impressive as HTC claimed it to be). However, it appears the new One M8, let's just call it the M8, is getting enough iPhone owners to trade up.  According to Macworld , 45% of those who bought the M8 were either Galaxy S 4 or iPhone users.  That is quite an impressive number.  I'm not sure even the iPhone has come close to getting Android defections with each new release. This is worrying for Samsung because of the 21%+ Galaxy users who upgraded, many of those were Galaxy S 4 users, a device that is only a ...

Today, there are more than a few pics depicting what appears to be the front face of the next iPhone, presumably called the iPhone 6.  Well, I can tell you this.  It doesn't jive with the design direction that Apple is heading towards nor does it work with how best one will interact with a larger screen iPhone. I'm calling it a fake or someone getting turned around by misinformation.  ( Appleinsider ). It's possible that I just refuse to believe that Apple will go back to the iPhone 4 screen ratio and that the pic showed what is essentially a bigger size iPhone 4 or 4S.  Operationally, whatever size the screen that is bigger than the current 4" on the iPhone 5S and 5C, Apple will have to compromise somewhat on the one-hand operation doctrine. Why are we trafficking in rumors when we've consistently said in the past that we wouldn't?  Well, we've walked a fine line here but I believe we haven't.  Pointing out a bad rumor is a public service in my mind.

Say what you will about Samsung (good or bad), it appears that Samsung has made battery life a priority, something that I have found lacking in the mobile market in general and, more specifically, lacking over with Apple and other major mobile hardware makers.  I specifically pointed out Apple because this is likely one area where Apple will be forced to copycat Samsung. For years, Apple has accused Samsung as a copycat.  Apple is both right and wrong.  It's right because Samsung does copy Apple.  Let's be fair about this, folks.  Samsung does.  But it doesn't just copy Apple.  At the same time, Apple isn't guilt free as far as being a copycat goes.  It has in the past taken the best features from other companies and made it its own.  Albeit, sometimes improve upon them.  In the mobile where, having impressively long battery life is a feature.  As far as I'm concerned, it's one of the most important feature a phone or tablet can hav...

I have been thinking about mobile payment for a while and have been waiting for the day when I can just leave my wallet at home and just carry around with me my phone as far back as I can remember.  So far, that day is not even remotely close.  But that's the topic for another day.  Mobile payment is what is on everyone's mind these days with dozens of efforts to try to get it off the ground including early and continuing attempts to make work with NFC.  However, without the support of a few major players like Apple, it's going nowhere.  See, Apple has its own vision for mobile payment and we've see a few pieces of this initiative in Passbook and TouchID. Whatever and however the implementation Apple decides to proceed with mobile payment, here's the thing to consider.  The iPhone accounts for about 20 to 25% of the mobile market in terms of units sold each year and we don't know if the needle on that will move further up much.  Still, 25% of a market ...

Here is an excellent post from Buzzfeed about iPhone battery life - why it's shorter than you expect and what you should do about it.  For the most part, it's about turning off features you don't need.  It's that simple.  There, i just switched on airplane mode but enabled my WIFI.  From time to time, we get these posts and they're most rehashing of things we already know about with our mobile devices, specifically here, the iPhone.  However, from time to time, Apple also release not only new hardware but also new features with each annual iOS upgrade.  Case in point here is Airdrop.  It's a pretty neat feature especially if you've got a lot of folks around you with the newer iPhones like the 5S and you happen to share a lot of files with them.  Otherwise, if you're like me, who either doesn't share much or doesn't have a lot of folks around me with the newest and baddest from Apple, you can turn that feature off.  And then there's the last...

Here is a good explanation from Slashgear about HTC's new flagship device's camera features, the M8.  It's still stuck on the 4MP UltraPixel marketing.  I know folks will argue that pixels aren't everything.  For the most part, I'd have to agree but I would have like to see some kind of an increase. The depth-of-field, DOF, and bokeh features are specifically what I'm referring to.  Between the two, I'm more excited about DOF.  It allows amateurs like me produce better looking photos - more professional and less sucky I guess.  It's something that I've had to fake with the iPhone and on other Android devices.  It'll be interesting to see how well it works in regular mobile warrior hands.  Say what you will, maybe HTC is on to something by taking the camera into a different direction.  Having said that, it would have been nice to see an 8MP upgrade instead of just the four.  For many of its competitors, they've been increasing the pixel ...

Here is an interesting post speculating on what form factor Apple's possible wearable device will take shape.  I'm not big on rings (oops, I just gave it away - but read through the link to understand the writer's thinking) so I hope that's not what it'll be.  And while, I have worn watches (even now) and used various fitness bands like the Fuelband and Fitbit Force, at times, I find it a bit intrusive.  I'm hoping Apple will offer something that is easier to wear and not necessarily in the form of a watch.  We'll see.  But that's not why I'm bring this up now.  I'm bring this up because after examining all the various smartwatch options and fitness bands out there, I have come to one conclusion about Apple's entry to the wearable tech arena. Simple. That's just it.  It'll be simple.  Unassuming, unobstructive, and unexpected.  More importantly, it will have few functions to start.  It will not be front-loaded like others on the mar...

In the past, future updates from Apple has always helped provide clues on what will be coming as far as new features for iOS and newer hardware as well.  This time around, 2014 updates for iPhones and iPads could also be hidden in future iOS updates as well.  This will be particular true for beta versions of iOS 8 that will presumably be released and be made available to developers at this year's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference.  And as someone who could never wait, I've been signing up as a developer (you have to be a paying developer) to get my hands on these early releases.  This year, we'll be watching out for information that might provide us to what possible screen resolutions Apple could be working on and wanting developers to focus on.  An increase in resolution would always be a tell-tale sign that Apple has a bigger screen iPhone on the works for release later this fall.  It will not clue us in on the size.  Apple is very unlikely to jus...

We're sixty-nine days into the new year, 2014.  I can still call it a "new year", right? I ask that because that new year smell is wearing off if it not not already for some folks and we are still waiting to see what exciting new products Apple has in-stored for us going forward.  After all, Tim Cook promised us that.  And that promise had been going on for a better part of a year stretching back into 2013.  All I'm saying is this, it's unlikely that Apple will back load the second half of 2014 with a bunch of new stuff because that would just to too much even for Apple to handle.  On top of that, new iOS gears like the iPhone 6, even if it has a 5" or 6" screen or refreshed iPads, or new Mac updates are not really new products in my book. Some Apple fans will argue that point.  For me, new products means a spanking new Apple TV that isn't just a hardware improvement but allows me to watch a plethora of new video services or play games either with my...