Apple Only Managed To Muster 82% Share of Tablet Market

With the huge iPad 2 launch that began in March and we just finished up April, Apple "only" managed to muster up 82% of market share.

Okay, not being sarcastic or nothing like that.  I thought Apple would have wiped the floor with everyone else.  I think there might be two reasons for this.  

First, despite what folks think, Apple does face meaningful competition from the rest of the tablet market as a whole.  You add in all those Android devices, Xoom, Galaxy, and other minor players, you can probably come up with 10-15% of the tablet market.  Then on top of that, you've got a few Windows versions that are just basically laptops without the keyboards.

Second, Apple was still running into supply issues.  I've had to wait 10 days for our latest 3G iPad.  

So, 82%?  Pretty good but I think Apple could have done better if supply issues did not come into play.  Love to see what May looks like and when Playbook from RIM has had more time on the market  

More at MacDailyNews.

White iPhone Or Not At the End of May

I think when my T-Mobile contract ends at the end of May, I'm gonna fight really really hard not to get the white iPhone from Verizon. It's gonna be hard. In trying to help my retired dad and his wife save money, I've decided to take on their mobile bill. However, I am forced to go with Verizon because both ATT and T-Mobile have horrible coverage where they live.

Still, I've got a couple of weeks left. I might even be able to hang through June. I figure I've got a month until we hear something more definitive on what Apple has planned. It is beginning to look more and more like there will not be an iPhone until later in the summer or early fall.

Now, there are smart folks over at Apple running the company. I'm not talking just about Steve Jobs and the top echelon of the executive team but the folks who are forecasting sales. Obviously, Apple is continue to do well with the iPhone 4 and it doesn't appear they will be in a hurry to rush out the next iPhone.

And I would have to agree. It's likely that Apple has found a firmer footing with Verizon in the mix in the US market.

Three Quarter of Docs Owns An Apple Device

According to a healthcare survey, 75% of physicians owns an iOS device, iPhone, iPad, or even an iPod.  

30% Of docs own an iPad.  I reckon this number will be higher soon enough.

Brilliant and amazing.  In the past, a patient would look at the doctor's diploma to rate his or her qualification.  Pretty soon, we're gonna want to know if they use an iOS device.  After all, how can anyone trust the man or woman with his or her welfare if they don't use an iPhone or iPad?

More at MacDailyNews

How I Found Out About Osama Getting What He Deserved, AP Told Me

It was Sunday when the Americans and much of the Western Hemisphere learned about Osama Bin Laden getting what he deserved.  This is one of those events in our lives that we will always remember where you were when you found out.  I was at home when I started up the browser and shocked to read about it.  This was a day that many of us would not think we'll see.  At least, now that I've read up on how the special op went down, not in the way that was so dramatic.  

Like I said, I was at home but it was earlier when my AP app on the iPod touch informed me that the President will be making an address.  This was around 1900 PST.  Yeah, President Obama wanted to talk to Americans on a Sunday night.  This could not be good.

When I got the notification, I was in my drive way on the way to go get dinner.  I immediately went back into the house to grab my mobile hotspot just in case I needed to read up on what's going on.  

Went to the supermarket, got food for the week as well as dinner.  Came home.  Along the way, I got a couple of more notifications from other apps and e-mails. Then around 8:30, stuff started going crazy.  Texts, e-mails, calls.  Even a FaceTime chat with my uncle and aunt about it.

After that, the President addressed the nation from the White House to confirm it.

Is this how we are going to find out about breaking news from now on?  Push notifications?  For many of us mobile warriors, I reckon that to be so.  I don't watch much television and I catch up on my video on Hulu.  News I get each morning on the Web.  Ordinarily, I don't use my Macbook unless I want to tweet or update my blogs  

Had I not have my touch with me, I probably would not have known about this until Monday morning.  

Never Thought I See This Day

Last time we went out to dinner with a bunch of friends, it started off well enough but as the night went on, it devolved into. iPhone-fest, or a smartphone-fest (not everyone had an iPhone). Folks were texting, updating their social status or checking in, just gaming. A couple of folks even texted each other from different ends of the table.

It was partly why I gave up using my G1 and iPhone with data. I am using an iPod touch with an iSpot but its not the same as an integrated device like the iPhone.

But today, my aunt and uncle, as well as a few of their friends came to visit. I served them tea and they chatted. They had not seen each other for weeks now.

I left them for a while and came back to the living room. It was quiet. And it was a sight I never expected to see.

My uncle was playing Angry Birds on his iPad, my aunt was hacking away on her iPhone trying to solve a sudoku puzzle, another aunt was playing mahjong on her iPad, and another of their friend was playing who knows what.

I guessed I shamed them a bit with a comment or two about what they were doing (or not doing) be because they stopped.

Still, it was not something I expected my elders to be doing.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

iPhone Really Coming In The Fall? Maybe (So, I'm Wrong) And It Might Be Good For Apple

There are a lot of expectations that Apple will release the next iPhone in the fall rather than the summer.  It truly defies what Apple has done in the past.  I myself have argued that Apple will stick with its annual update.  Now, we are a week from May and it doesn't look like Apple will be holding its annual April event to introduce the next iOS  So does this mean that I'm wrong and that we are looking a later date for the next iPhone release?  

Well, I came across this post from TUAW that articulated three points support the fall iPhone assertion.  I'm not afraid to admit that I'm wrong.  I'm not wrong...yet.

Three Reasons Apple Will Release the iPhone In The Fall:

First, the two iPhone models just got released.  What?!  That's right.  The CDMA iPhone was just released by Apple and Verizon in February.  It's now late April, 2.5 months ago.  And as you know, Apple sold 2.2 million of them CDMA models in about six weeks.  Not bad and more is likely to come as more folks get off the two-year contract train with each passing week.  

And then there's the new white iPhone that will go on sale tomorrow, 4/28/11.  How many more million of the white iPhone models will AT&T and Verizon, with a combined customer base of about 180 million users, sell?  Lots.  

With the CDMA iPhone being on the market for four months and the white models out two months when the WWDC comes around in June, it's like we're not going to see a new iPhone model for a while.  

The second reason the post brought up is back-to-school and synconizing with the rest of the iOS line-up, the iPod touch for the fall.  All of that makes sense.  And as a matter of fact, I think Apple might be onto something with respects to back to school.  Traditionally, Apple has a back-to-school program where a student can get a free iPod with the purchase of a Mac.  Now consider this.  You're Apple.  You want to hurt your competitors, Microsoft, Samsung, HTC, LG, RIM, and HP, how would you do it further?

How about back-to-school program that includes iPhones.  Buy a Mac and get a free iPhone 3GS or $100 off an iPhone 4.  Heck, Apple might even be able to give the iPhone 4s for free.  

The third point they made is iOS update.  Provide developers at a "developer" conference beta version of the next iOS and release it in the fall, just in time for the traditional fall fresh that is reserved for the iPod.  Now, Apple can release the iPhone along with everything else.

I'll add a fourth reason.  Apple just sold nearly 19 million iPhones.  That's a lot of iPhones.  And by pushing the next iPhone back to a later date or at least put into the mind of anyone who wants an iPhone but might put it off because Apple won't to deal with a slowed iPhone demand due to anticipation of a new release.

All of those points above make a lot of sense.  However, if Apple should move the iPhone release beyond June, it will not make sense to do it along side the iPod touch update.  The iPhone and iPod touch separately cater to two different demographics.  Nevertheless, there is an overlap.  And give these hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of iOS customers the choice between the more expensive iPhone or more valued iPod touch with the same specs, they may go with the touch.  I happen to fall into this segment.  

If anything, Apple might release the iOS 5 to developers in June at the WWDC and then release the iPhone in August, six to eight weeks before the next iPod touch release.  

So, what do you think?  By August, the black GSM will be 14 months old, the CDMA six months old, and the white models four to five months old.  Perfect time for an update.  Still, June release is not out of the question yet.  

More at TUAW.

Location Tracking: Apple (And Google) Has Some Explaining But It's Probably Nothing We Need To Worry About

It's been confirmed through a photo that the President of the United States has an iPad 2.  Obviously, Mr. Obama is not the first head of state to use an iPad nor will he be the last.  And dozens if not hundreds of law makers also make use of Apple's revolutionary and "magical" (not my word) device in the course of service to the public.  And with the news that the iOS device, specially the iPhone, may be keep information about the whereabouts of the user in a file on the iPhone and iTunes profile, is this a danger or violation of privacy that we need to worry about?

No.  It's a concern.  If it's a bug, it needs to be fixed.  If there is something more to it than that, we should get to the bottom of this.  Google's Android, its openness is debatable, is not curated and, it soo, also record geolocation of its users.

To be fair, I like to see all mobile companies get an opportunity to defend this specific practice before we go nuts about it.  And I like to see Facebook explain their views in this matter as well.  It's likely that the social network, with a history of violating its members' privacy, will become a major mobile player, either as a content and platform provider or quite possibly as a mobile OS provider one day.

I do hope that if various hearings that being planned in the US, Europe, and South Korea are about getting to the truth and not to be used as an ax to grind for whatever political and/or economic reasons. 

Right now, I'm not worried  in the least.  Not with iOS or Android.  And if President Obama isn't worried, nor should you.