iPad Provides A More Intimate Experiences Between Computer and Owner

Intimacy.  That is the word that is put to the personal computing experience the iPad has brought to mobile computing and entertainment.  And while the iPad cannot get more intimate than the iPhone since it doesn't fit in the pocket of our jeans, the fact that it can do much more while it sits on your laps.

It's on the moment you need it and it can easily take you through a work day or on a flight.

I'm not sure that people, even iPad owners realize what's going on.  Their relationship with their iPads is vastly more different than with their laptop or smartphone.  

I thought of this while I was looking at the original MacIntosh.  The very first one. The boxy thing with the smallish screen in black and white. Yeah, that one.  It was computing on a vastly different even than the Apple II or the IBM PCs around that time.  

The new UI with the mouse as the controller gave users a level of control that was not achievable.  And through the decades after, the experience has largely been the same with Windows or Mac OS.  

That all changed with the iPad.  Apple took that intimacy shared between user and computer onto a whole new level.  And the iPad is a little more than a year old.  We are only scratching the surface of what the iPad can allow us to achieve.

If anyone wants to compete more effectively with Apple, they need to realize this first.

Apple's MobileMe Down For Some; Doesn't Bold Well for iCloud

MobileMe mail is down for some folks and Apple has acknowledge that.  So far I haven't seen anything worse than the number of refrehses that I have do do on a daily basis.  Still, this can't be a good thing for Apple.

There's expectation, rumors about iCloud notwithstanding, that Apple will revamp it's cloud services.  

So, this late into the game with WWDC just weeks away does not give me confidence that Apple has its cloud issues licked.  

More at Macnn.

Siri Is Nice But Hardly Use: Hope Apple Addresses It

Voice is great but even with Android having a huge lead in this department, I still see people hacking away on their Google e-mails or texting rather than speak their messages.  Here's the reason why.  We have not been trained to use voice after decades of trusting the keyboard.  And while iOS app, Apple's Siri, is pretty need, Apple needs not only build voice capabilities into the iOS but give us a reason to use it.

Take Ping on the other extreme.  It's okay but we have no reason to use it.  With the rumored voice capability that is forthcoming, I'm sure Apple will vastly improve on Siri.  But will that be enough?

I've used Siri to look things up  I've used it to look up definition of words.  I've put Siri in the dock to force myself to use it.  Practice using it so that I'm more comfortable with voice and when the time comes, I'll be able to take advantage of iOS 5's voice abilities.  But that's me.

I'm sure you don't go to such extreme to use Siri or get yourself comfortable with voice input/output.  

I have no expectation that the iOS update will allow me to chat with my iPhone the way folks on the Enterprise is able to make queries of the computer onboard the starship.  However, I think Google will probably take us there sooner rather than later.

What I do expect is for Apple to attempt to make the use of Siri and other voice capabilities more second nature, and less of a conscious effort that I have to put in now to use it.

On another note, any other interest uses of the current Siri that you can think of?

iPhone Hardware Surpassed iOS in terms of Power

Right now, the iPad 2 is awesome in that it's fast.  Very fast.  But that's limited to some apps and tasks. For the most part, I can't tell the different between playing Angry Birds on the origial iPad versus the iPad 2.  So, the question is if hardware development as advanced far beyond the needs of iOS 4 or even 5?

Here's a most that kind of question this issue.  

It's worth thinking about some more.  We know that Apple has a way to get us to upgrade by cripple certain features in favor of newer iOS devices over older ones.  Still, a hack here or there via jail-break can usually bring some of these missing features back to the older models.

Other than Apple's artificially placed limitations, I don't see anything that iOS 5 can bring that the iPhone 4 cannot handle.  Obviously, we know nothing about iOS 5 yet and my declaration here is premature.  And I certainly hope to be wrong about this.

Also, take Nvidia who is readying a four-core Tegra.  Apple probably should and will work on their own version as well.  And when that time comes, will we see a even greater gap between the iOS hardware and the need of iOS to use all that power?

More at Computerworld.

Apple Should Worry About Kindle And Nook Tablets More Than Xoom or Tab

As tablets goes, it's iPad.  Don't let anyone kid you.  Xoom isn't selling well and the Galaxy Tab might have a market in South Korea where Samsung is headquartered but that's it.  Playbook?  Yeah right. Not even on the market for a month and there's already a recall. However, Apple's tablet dominance could be coming to an end if Amazon and Barnes & Noble can get their tablet plans off the ground.

Amazon will soon unveil a new family of Kindle branded products  I reckon there'll be new e-ink readers as well as Amazon's flavor of Android tablets.  BN has done well with Nook Color and we'll see their second generation effort at the end of May.  What makes these two ebook sellers different from the other hardware companies?  And how can they succeed against Apple where other tablet makers have largely fail?

Well, the first evidence of this is this. Angry Birds have been downloaded 1 million times on just the Nook Color alone.  And they got the app store not too long ago.  And since the Nook Color gamed more tablet abilities, I've seen interest in the NC peaked.  

On top of this, Amazon has its own Android app market that, in my mind, is better than the Android Marketplace.  Why is that?  It's more curated than Google's effort and less so than Apple's App Store. And I think BN will follow the same idea.  Between the stores managed by Amazon or BN and Google's, I'll take the Kindle and Nook store any day.

And that's another thing.  The Kindle and Nook app market will be smaller than the Google's app store but most users won't care about that.  It's about feeling safe and, ironically, it could make it easier for users to find the apps they need.

Look for Amazon to leverage its music and video empire as well.  

So yeah, I think Apple needs to worry about these two companies. Which is why I think both the Kindle and Nook apps will soon disappear from Apple's app store some time this year.  Because later, both Amazon and BN will not only be Apple's ebook competitors but also tablet foes as well.

What Are You And I Doing On Our iPad

A survey took a snap shot of what iPad users are doing on their Apple tablet.  The gist is this:  we consume and consume.  In all likelihood, we have evolved into a different kind of coach potatoes.  A digital or mobile variant of it.

The top activity we do on our iPads is surf the Web.  Love Apple or not, Apple had done in incredible job duplicating the desktop browsing experience and ported it over to the mobile experience.  While the native mobile Safari on the iPad lacks some of the bells and whistles of the deskop version, for 90% of what you need to have a seemless Web experience is there.  And before, you get into Flash, ask the Android folks, not devotees (I wouldn't ask you take anything an Apple fanboy say either), and you'll know that Flash isn't quite there yet.  It's not Google's fault.  It's Adobe.  

The second thing we do a lot of on our iPads is socialize.  In this day, "socializing" means tweeting, checking or update Facebook statuses, or sending messages back and forth with friends/family.  Surprisingly, this category is put into one of its own. I would have thought that they fit in with the Web browsing experience.  After all, I don't use a separate app for Facebook on my Macbook Air.  However, I do use an assortment of apps for Twitter.  

Others is the next biggest category but I'll get into that later.

The next two groups are close enough for me to call it a draw.  Gaming and watching video.  I get why the two are separated but I think they give developers a clearer picture about their development, what to develop, and how to market their apps.  I think it's okay had the survey takers put the two together into one category.  It's entertainment.  

This is a great start but I think something might be missing.  What about business use?  It is possible that some of the Web browsing, e-mailing, and the "other activities" should more appropriately be put into a productivity category.  However, the fact remains that iPad or tablet use is largely non-business related.  It is possible that over time, we will see higher tablet adoption in enterprise.  It is only a matter of time before productivity gains a bigger share of tablet use.  

Another category I like to see surveyed is tablet use in education.  And not just as education in general but how iPads and tablets are helping teachers and students become more engaged in the classroom as well as the learning materials.

More at TUAW.

Eli Could Have Gotten A New iPhone If Stargate Universe Wasn't Cancelled

As you know by now, if you're a Stargate or SG-1, Stargate Universe was wrongfully cancelled after two seasons.  The idiots at MGM not withstanding, I hope it lives on in some form, other media.  Maybe even a TV movie.  However, I'm gonna assume one this.  Had there been a season 3, Eli Wallace, could have received a new iPhone or iPad 2.

See, the fictional Department of Homeworld Security could have established another Icarus base.  It potentially would have been a unidirectional trip.  That means the Milky Way could dial the Destiny but not the other way around.  That means at the very least, the Destiny could get supplies.

That means Eli could get a new iPhone 4, or iPhone 5.  Heck, the crew could be supplied with tablets of their choice.  iPads, I reckon, will be the choice that many onboard the ship will make.  

Anyway, like I said at the top, it's unfortunate that MGM decided to cancel the series and SyFy did not fight harder for the series.  TV/Movie execs are just as spineless as music execs, on the same level of politicians, never willing to make the though choices.  There, I got my shot in.

It would be nice to see today's mobile tech play a bigger role in the fictional universe.  Obviously, we've seen Dells used on SG-1.  That's unfortunate.  But as far as fan fiction goes, we own it and I'd say we should give the crew of Destiny new iOS devices as well as the Thunderbolt Macbook Pros.

Link: Stargate, SG: Universe, Gateworld (no, I will not provide links to MGM or SyFy).