New iPhone At WWDC Next Week? Possible But Highly Improbable

Does it make sense for Apple to release an updated iPhone before the next iOS update is ready?

Sure, and that could be why I won't be totally surprised if Steve Jobs goes on stage, reaches into the left pocket of his jeans, and tells the world, "this is iPhone XX".  

But you say, "how can Apple do such a thing without the accompanying iOS?  Doesn't it need iOS 5?"

Well, yes.  It would be nice to have iOS 5 ready but because of the fact that Apple did not talk about it back in April like it's done the last couple of years but, instead, in June, means it is not quite ready yet.  

However, when the original iPad launched, it ran on iOS 3 and it was not until November when iOS 4 version for the iPad was released.  

So, it is entirely possible that we can see a new iPhone next week.  It is highly improbably but that's another matter entirely.  

Yahoo and Microsoft Also Got Hit By Chinese Hackers

Don't know if you know they now, some Gmail was hacked by the Chinese, despite claims of innocence.  You know they did it, I know they did it, and they know we all know they did it.  With that settled, it's now known that Yahoo Mail as well as Hotmail were also in similar ways.  

This Macworld post diplomatically did not mention Beijing by name as the perpetrator until near the end of the post but that their choice.  Having said that, the Google mail accounts of US officials, journalists, and activists were the main target.  I reckon gaining access to these same category of people is the same reason for the Yahoo and Hotmail attacks.

And chances are, if you're reading this, you probably are just an average mobile warrior like me and not an ambassador something like that.  Still, it makes sense to change your passwords and such.

As a matter of fact, changing the passwords to all your online accounts is a prudent practice, even if you're not a member of the press or a freedom fighter living in a totalitarian realm.

More at Macworld.

Can Apple Surprise Us Next Week?

Apple will host its next World Wide Deveoper Conference next week in San Francisco.  And much of topics of what Apple wants us to focus on is out in the public.  OS X Lion, iOS 5, and, of course, iCloud.  But is that all there is?  

I had been waiting all week long with glee, expecting to the blogs to run wild with rumors and speculations knowing well that most of it just stuff people are going to make up to get hits.  Imagine my shock when that has not happen at all.  It has been a relatively quiet week.  Maybe it has something to do with the long weekend we just had and folks are still exhausted.  I know I am.  

Still, it is possible for Apple to pull a fast one on us and unleash something spectacular?  Yes, but I'm not hopeful.

What?  No Crazy Rumors This Year? At this time the last few years, we were getting a lot of crazy rumors about this and that.  And of course, there was the Gizmodo theft of the iPhone 4 prototype and the Web was crazy with what we know.  So why no Apple rumor craziness this year?

I attribute this to Apple announcing ahead of time what they want to talk about.  It isn't OS X Lion.  We know that much and expected it.  But it was that in a press release, Apple said we'll be hearing about iOS 5 and iCloud as well with Steve Jobs as the keynote speaker.  In all my time watching Apple, never have they done such a thing.  

iOS 5 was kinda expected to be a topic at WWDC but "iCloud"?  Before that confirmation, everyone had put the "iCloud" in the rumors category

It was as if Apple made an preemptive move to shut down rumor wild fire that they would have a difficulty putting out.  Sure, Apple has never responded to rumors in the past but that doesn't mean that Apple is not in any way influenced by them.  Stock prices go up and down because of them because Wall Street analysts and CNBC would include them in their reports  Expectations go up.  

By mention a head of time what to expect, Apple effectively shut down anything that would distract from what they want us to focus on.  At the same time, it is also a perfect opportunity for Apple to let loose something, a major and pleasant surprise while we least expect it.  

What can this surprise be?  I know what I want.  And I won't say because you could want something totally different from Apple next week.  

I leave this in closing.  Regardless of what we see next week, I fully expect to be wowed because it'll be Steve Jobs on stage and that reality distortion field will be on full.

Ready for a cheaper iPhone at $300 unsubsidized? What It Can Do To The Market

Ready for a cheaper iPhone at $300 unsubsidized?  Well, an analyst has ventured a guess as to when it can happen.  Me, I think the sooner the better.  You know, competition and all.  But forget when but let's focus on what it can do to the market.

Take the iPhone 3GS that debut in 2009 at $200 for the low-end model. And today, it's at $50 if you're willing to sign up for a two-year contract.  And yes, since the iPhone 4 became available on Verizon, the 3GS has helped AT&T fend off competition from its main rival.  While the $50 3GS has only 8 GB compared to the iPhone 4 with 16GB or more, it remains popular for a device that is about two years old.

Suppose Apple continues to keep the 3GS on the market beyond this year after the next iPhone hits the market.  Whether it'll be called iPhone 4S or iPhone 5, Apple can sell the 3GS for much less unsubsidized or simply give it away if mobile users are willing to sign up for a two-year commitment.

Also keep in mind that the 3GS is nothing that users want to consider "dated" at all.  Compared to a lot of "smartphones" out there, it is still capable of running hundreds of thousands of apps with arguably the best mobile OS on the market.  Right now, I'm using an iPhone 2G with iOS 3.  While I miss a new features on it that my iPod touch running iOS 4 have and that it is on EDGE, it has handled my mobile needs most of the time.  And this is a 2007 iPhone!

The speculation by Jefferies analyst Peter Misek in this ZDNet post suggests that such an iPhone could allow Apple to disrupt its competitors further.  Rather than putting it that way, I like to think that still powerful iPhone like the 3GS can bring to the masses mobile tech that has previously was inaccessible to a large portion of the mobile market due to cost.

Imagine a $300 iPhone running off Virgin Mobile's $35 monthly plan with unlimited data!  If you want disruptive, that'll what I'm talking about!

Obviously, Apple's main competition at this point is Android.  It'll be interesting to see Apple and its Android competitors go head-to-head in this segment of the market.  And keep in mind that while the analyst has made a guess when we'll see this iPhone, Tim Cook from Apple has already they will address it soon.

More at ZDNet.

Kid Sells Kidney To Buy iPad 2

Okay, I'll wait in line to get an iPad 2.  In fact, I've done it back in April.  I didn't succeed in getting the models I wanted but I did.

However, would I sell a body part to do it?  I would know sell a body part to even get an Apple IIc way way back then.  But a Chinese kid did.  Regrettably, he found out that it wasn't worth it.

It's really sad and I'm not trying to make light of this.  And the situation occurred in China.  Plus, it's not some early teen kid but a seventeen year old.  He sold his kidney for 20,000 yuan which is about $3100 USD.  Now, the kid's health is failing.  I hope he pulls through.  

This is a really bad symptom of a larger issue of materialism that China faces.  The iPad is a tool. Great but it like isn't being used by the boy further his education or career that we know of.  

More at MacDailyNews.

TV Raised Me, But the iPad Is Raising My Nieces and Nephews

Okay. I really was not raised by television. Growing up, I got at most an hour of TV a day on weekdays while on weekends, I get my fill of Saturday morning cartoons but for the rest of the time, the TV is off. Still, I’ve read about the volume of TV shows my friends watched growing up as I’m sure you have as well.

And while some of what we watch could be loosely be construed as educational, things have changed. And yes, TV remain a big part of today’s children (for better or worse), so is the mobile tech. In particular, the iPad. Some schools have even gone out of their way to procure these still-hard-to-find Apple tablets for their kindergarteners.

I even gave my nephew my original iPad. He loves it. He plays games on it and writes his numbers and letters. And in the past, I have recommended to my brother and his wife not to let my nephew watch so much TV, it fell on deaf ears. I get the usual irresponsible parental excuses.

On a recent visit to my brother’s house, I noted that the TV was off. I was surprised. Maybe my constant nagging by way of SMS and e-mails worked. I was proud of myself. When asked where my nephew was, his dad said he was in his room.

Reading his books? Wow, I was really happy then. I went upstairs, walked to his room and peeked in.

He wasn’t reading books. Nor was he playing with his toys.

He was on the iPad playing his assortment of apps. Drawing, simple games, alphabet and number apps, and or just swiping the screens left and right.

Apparently, he had been on there for quite a while that morning.

So, what’s better (or worse)? TV or the iPad?

It really depends on how you approach this. Anything can be a tool or an instrument that leads you down paths you rather not go. In my nephew’s case, watching Cars three times a day isn’t going to help him developmentally. Nor is playing games on the iPad. However, the educational and developmental apps has done things for him that Buzz, Woody, Nemo, or cast of Cars could not.

So, maybe it is better for today’s children to be raised by tablets rather than the television. Truth be told, I rather have an iPad than a TV growing up.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPod touch

Update On Curated Versus “Open” App Market: Fight Between Two Camps Continue

Just yesterday, another malware struck the Android Market Place. And personal data continues to be an issue with users and developers in a kind of warp sea-saw battle that has attracted Congressional interests (both good and bad and for political self-serving reasons). That has lead me to consider the state of app stores and if walled garden still deserves a lot of criticism or if more unsupervised ones are still the way to go.

To date, there isn’t a lot of attention about iPhone and iPad users suffering from wide-spread malware while Android users, to some extent, has had to be more careful about what apps they install. However, iOS users does have only one legal app store while Android users continue to enjoy options to get their app needs from multiple sources.

Having lived in both worlds, I have to say that I like being able to go about business free of whether my iPad or iPhone is being used to siphon off my private information. To some extent, malware and private info theft could be happen even with Apple’s curated setup but it isn’t as bad as as scary as what we are hearing about Android.

And since the dawn of curated versus freer choice argument, multiple app stores have sprung up and changes to even Google’s official app store has also taken place. So, where do things now stand?

First, let’s just state for a fact that Apple has hardly budged and any changes that Cupertino has made to the app store has been met with mixed reactions. So let’s just say that the iTunes app store has its virtues but it is definitely just as closed as before.

For Android users, Amazon now provides an alternative app store. However, likely Android default marketplace, it definitely has a aroma of iOS app store to it. For some, you might call it “stench”. And yet, it doesn’t feel as closed as Apple’s store and definitely inspires a bit more confidence in me than Google’s wide-open implementation. Because Amazon isn’t entirely closed, my distrustful nature has me thinking twice and doing a deep level investigation of any app I get from it. But I am definitely happier with Amazon than Google.

Meanwhile, Windows Phone 7 also has its own app store and I find software giant operate its app store to be closer to how Apple and Amazon operate their stores than Google operates Android Marketplace.

Having said all that, malware and privacy issues are something that all mobile warriors, regardless of platform, should be concerned about. As much as we’ve all been changed by mobile computing and the social aspects of it, we are closer to the start rather than the end of a social change in how we interact with technology. Over time, some issues like privacy may get resolved only to have others pop up that is more pertinent to society at that time in the future.

Still, while it might irks some users who want unadulterated access to apps and services, the rest of us mortal users could use a little help to fend off the darker elements of mobile computing.

Note: There is indication that Google is taking more proactive steps to curtailing certain apps. Some emulators have been pulled from the Android Marketplace and Google has taken tighter control of Android as well.