Apple's Steve Jobs And Google's Eric Schmidt To Meet With President Obama Tomorrow

Okay. This is huge. Like him or not, Steve Jobs was put on this death bed hours earlier by the National Inquirer. Now, ABC News is reporting that the heads of these two tech giants will meeting with President Obama in San Francisco tomorrow night.

This meeting is a part of the President's agenda to bring closer businesses to help America stay ahead of the pack in research and innovation.

Honestly, who better to throw ideas with than the two most storied companies in Silicon Valley. And if anyone knows about being a visionary and coming from behind, it's Steve Jobs, like him or not.

And obviously, Schmidt's management of Google and turning it into search and mobile powerhouse, is likely to have a couple of ideas on how to make the US stay on top. Schmidt, like him or not, is on top of his game.

And I just want to say that ABC News could be wrong about this and there is an ever so slight possibility that the National Inquirer is right about Steve Jobs. And Maybe I just don't want to believe it. But man, if anyone can advise the President on education, innovation, and research, it's Jobs.

More at ABC News, MacDailyNews.

Note: Zuckerberg will be there but I can't think of a reason why.


-- Post From My iPad

Apple Subscription: Seems Fair

I am sure all the bitching, moaning, and crying to the adults helped but after reading the details of Apple's subscription policy, it seems to make a lot of sense.  And quite frankly, it's fair.

If you bring in your own readers/viewers, you get to keep all the money.  Your did all the work.  But if we helped you out, we get a cut of the pie.  For Apple, that's 30%. 

Oh, and with personal data, it's opt-in, not opt-out like Facebook or Google.  So, that means we have to actively say that publishers and whoever they sell our information to can have access to our personal data.  Good move, Apple.

My only issue is that the 30% seems a bit much and I'm sure with some content publishers like Rupert Murdoch, he is powerful enough to be able to call up Steve Jobs and ask for some kind of a special deal.  

So, I hope after this week, all this nonsense will stop.  And here's what so great about competition.  Google, Nokia, Microsoft, RIM, or HP can totally say to publishers can say we'll take nothing from you.  And that might further change things at Apple.  

So the more things change, the more things become the way they should be.

More at Apple.

Wifi Chips Need To Be More Battery Friendly

Over the weekend, I took my MacBook out for some time at Borders. I had to do work on the laptop that I cannot do on the iPad at this time.

And this is an older MacBook. Late 2008 and the battery life has been put through it's paces in the last couple of years. According to a battery utility, it's got 80% left of the original charge left. When it gets to 70% or less, I'll probably have to decide if I should get a other battery or invest in a new MacBook.

I turned it on and it attached itself to the free wifi. And the battery indicator said there was 2.5 hours of work I could do. But I wanted to spend my afternoon there working so I turned off the wifi.

It has been quite some time since I've done that. The long battery on the iPod touch, and specifically, the iPad has really spoiled me. The battery life jumped to four hours!

I was there for about four hours and got about three hours of work done so there was some change left in the battery had I wanted to stay longer.

But my point is the wifi chip. What a power hog! I hope today's wifi chips are more battery friendly. But if they are not, someone need to invest some time and research on making wifi use more efficient and the chips draw less and less power.

We'll be using wifi for years if not decades more. Bring mobile isn't just about more efficient CPU, display, or bettery batteries. It's about other components of the mobile devices or laptops. And it's also about programming for power management.

For now, wifi chip and its ubiquity is one area that I see that can help mobile warriors work longer and worry-free.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Sony Playstation Suite for Android Serves Only As A Reminder to Apple It Can't Stand Still, Not A Threat

In one of my tweets from the live Sony Play Event just now, and yes, the main focus was the Play and not the other Xperia devices, I mentioned that Verizon will be adding the Play to its arsenal this Spring. And with the iPhone and Droid, Verizon will have quite an all-star lineup. And dispite this addition, I only mentioned Droid as being screwed in all of this.

Why? First, Droid is Droid. Hefty device and specs-wise, it's at the top. However, it is not a particularly well built device. I know some folks will disagree. I think its appeal has been somewhat limiting because of its image. It's why Verizon desperately needed the iPhone.

With Playstation Suite coming to Android and now Sony's dedicated gaming mobile phone, Play, it will appeal to the same crowd that were attracted to Droid to begin with. It's unlike to have any impact on iPhone adoption on the Verizon network and certainly it is no threat to the iPhone 5 (or iPhone 4G if Apple releases an LTE version) when it's available.

The iPhone is a mass appeal device that just works. And as gaming goes, it can hold its own with its A4 chip and whatever else that is certainly more powerful in the next generation of iPhone. And it'll have the same games that 3rd party developers will have for the Playstation Suite. So, users who want the best of both worlds, mobile experience with gaming, will not be missing out. Developers would be crazy to ignore the iOS platform.

Still, Apple does need to be reminded from time to time that it has to continue to innovate. And I know that Apple's vision quite different from other tech companies in that it is continuing to out-innovate its previous products, I am sure Steve Jobs and company are keeping an eye on what others are doing.

It's likely to use a few hardcore gamers to the Play. There is nothing that Apple can do about that on the basis that the Play has gaming buttons where the iPhone needs on-screen controls. Still, with more powerful chips and graphics in the iPhone, better display, and other changes to the iOS (such as improved Game Center, I hope), Apple will continue to draw the larger gaming crowd.

With the Play, Sony, who is losing in the mobile battle, is going all in by bringing its Playstation brand into the fight. It'll find some success but on a larger scale, Apple will continue to dominate the mobile experience if it continues to innovate at the pace it's been in the last couple of years. The Play is no threat to the iOS ecosystem so long as Apple keeps true to its vision.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

$200 iPhone or Just an iPod Touch With Data: How Apple Will Conquer The Low-End Of The Mobile Market

A Bloomberg article was provided with information, which I surmised to be an orchestrated leak from Apple, that Apple is or was working on a $200 iPhone.

Is that something that Apple can truly do?  Upon reading the article and knowing about how protective investors are about margins, I had my initial doubts.  

And as the day went along, things began turning in my head that made me think that perhaps, there is something to this after all.  

I'll give up a couple of clues:  payments, there's already a $200 iPhone of sort, and billions of cash in the bank.

I'll get back to you later in the day and see if we come up with the same conclusion.

Sony May Pull Content From iTunes: Example Of What Is Wrong With Content Providers

Sony said that content providers were being held ransom by Apple and its iTunes. Sorry, I disagree. I think it’s the ineptitude of content providers due to their archaic thinking that makes them feel this way.

Here’s why. First, iTunes is very closed. Nothing on earth comes even close. Having said that, it should be easy for anyone offer a service to compete with iTunes. And we definitely have seen how easy that is can be done with all the plethora of services, brands, and devices over the year. And yet, they’ve all failed in their own unique way.

What isn’t not unique is that how they’ve failed. I think it’s because of DRM and music studios trying to bleed their users and restrictions they put in deals. Even as the content battle is currently unfolding and iTunes success in the future is hardly guaranteed, the future tech and media historians will see if any failure to stem piracy and promote competition will rest in the hands of the providers who hold the media rights.

And at times, instead of working together, you have studios working against one another or have varying motives. Take Sony for example. Music is a failing part of the empire but it continues to hold onto the rights because they hope it will help it sell its other products and services. As far as BMG, Universal, and others, they don’t care. They want to sell music. Not help Sony sell its phones or TV.

So when I read that Sony was contemplating pulling its content from iTunes, I say let them. That means more music for the other studios to sell on the largest music store in the world.

What content providers need is an open exchange where they make everything available to all the outlets and customers. Think of this as a stock market where the worth of contents is decided by a free market.

Providers can set the price and availability and the market will decide if they’re willing to pay for it.

But first, to do that, they need to get away from these stupid deals they make with different companies in an attempt to dethrone iTunes or try to get everyone to go with the subscription models.

Maybe Google should set up such an exchange, not only for Android but for iOS, Web OS, and Windows 7 devices as well. Not just for mobile or Google TV but for Windows, OS X, and the living room. If this is about being free of iTunes, Sony should join in such an effort instead of crying to the media about having its feelings hurt by Apple.

Let’s be honest, Sony. You tried for decades to create your own iTunes and failed miserably each and every single time. And now someone beat you to it and we will not be the shoulders for you to cry on.


More at The Age.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Before Apple’s Ping Failure, There Was the iBookstore

I read books through iBooks app and buy through the iBooks Store. I’ve bought four books so far for myself. And just today, I was going to gift a book to a friend, I find out that I cannot do that.

Why, Apple? We can easily do that with apps in the app store so I don’t understand why this isn’t possible yet for ebooks.

That then led me to the larger issue about the success of iBooks. Rather, the lack of success that I am sensing from Apple.

I don’t hear analysts talking about Apple’s share in the ebook market anymore. Okay, I also don’t hear about Kindle’s share either. I think it’s probably because the Kindle is totally dominating iBook in terms of number of readers and books sold. And I reckon things probably go uglier after the Holidays despite Apple’s iPad outselling Kindles because readers can simply download the Kindle app and turn their iPad into a Kindle.

Being partial to Apple and its mobile vision, I hope that we will see some changes and improvements come to iBooks in 2011. For instance, let’s start with being able to gift books to another iPad or iOS device user.

I’ll come back to this subject once I’ve got more time to think about other things that Apple can do to improve sales and the reading experience.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch