Another Blackberry Blackout - Latin America Affected This Time

According to news reports, RIM went through a second blackout for two days in a row.

Again, it's a gift that keep on giving if you're a Blackberry competitor.  This time, the problem has spread to Latin America and India.

I am certain the other mobile players are salivating at this.  However, as a mobile fan who believes more competition is better for all of us in the long run, tripping and falling on one's face one day and then tripping over one's own shoe laces the next day isn't competition.

iMessage: Let's Stop The Carriers' Collective SMS Abuse

iOS 5 is about to come out and there is one particular feature that is going to have a huge impact on the wireless industry. I'm surprised that hardly anyone is talking about it.

iMessage.

iMessage is Apple's own messaging app that really has taken too long to introduce.  And it'll put a severe dent in the carrier's profits.  After all, it costs them next to nothing for an user to send out a single text message.  And yet, they can charge up to two dimes for it.  It just play wrong, wrong, wrong.

It's a clear example of who Congress and the FCC has been looking out for.  

Let's make this hurt for the carriers.  I've already been using Google Voice to do all my texting but I'm going to try to get my friends and family stop using SMS and move over to iMessage when possible and Google Voice when absolutely necessary when the other person isn't on an iPhone or another iOS device.

And don't feel too bad for the carriers.  They've made billions upon billions over the years from us.  They'll be fine.  

Some Siri Video To Help Wet Appetite While We Wait For Our 4S

I think my iPhone 4S shipment notification probably got lost in the mail.  Otherwise, it cannot take this long for Apple to ship mine out.  I live in California, for goodness sake!

Anyway, here is a Siri video that ought to hold us over until Friday (I hope).




Source: TUAW.

Will iOS 5 Automatically Update Your App?

We are less than 48 hours from Apple unleashing iOS 5 on our unsuspecting iPhones and other iOS devices. Very excited.

However, I am wondering about a feature you might have heard about but haven't yet seen an update to since early June.

Back in June, some wording within iTunes suggested that auto-updating OTA was not only coming to the OS but also to the apps as well.

That might be a cool feature to have for most folks but not so in some minor situations.

For instance, my updated iOS Slingplayer app will not work with my Slingbox but the earliest version from 2010 will.

It's weird. I know and I have seen anything that might suggest why.

So you can see why I would not want my iPhone or iPad to go to iCloud and pull down an update.

Question: does anyone know whether auto-app update is an iOS 5 feature and, if so, can it be disabled?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

iCloud: How iCloud Sync Files And Who Has Access

Here's a simple write-up from TUAW that explains just how iCloud deals with files and how it syncs them to all your devices.  It's worth a read if you're concerned about how your files will be treated.  More specifically, which versions of updates win out.

Siri - If We Can Only Rename Our Assistant

The key to iPhone 4S is Siri, our personal assistant who won't judge us and lives to serve us.  But while Siri is an unique name,  I would like to be able to rename it.

I'm sure this feature along would wow the next Apple keynote event, be it for the iPad 3, WWDC, or just bring Siri to the Mac.

So, how about it, Apple?  Give us that personal touch - let us name our Siri.  I'm also interested in the ability to customize the voice for Siri.

iPad: Facebook App Is Here - Who Cares?

The Facebook app for the iPad is here.  Does it matter?  Maybe if you use it a lot and wanna waste more of your time away on it, then okay, this is a big deal.

Here are a couple of screen shots I took from the iPhone 4.

I think the gaming that the app brings is very interesting from a curiosity standpoint and how "HTML 5" this all really is.  Supposedly, this is all based on a new gaming and Web platform that Facebook has been working on with Apple's help.

What else do you get?

• Higher rez pics
• Better navigation (we'll see)
• Ability to spy on your friends (I've got Foursquare for that).
• Again, gaming...most interesting addition.

What I don't see is better privacy but coming from Facebook, that'll never happen.

If this is your cup of tea, its available in the iTunes store or your app store on your iOS devices now. For the rest of us, it's "meh" update.