iCloud is Fast

I do a lot of e-mail with my MobileMe account on the Web. Switched over to iCloud last night.  Been using it all morning.  

Wow, it's fast and much more stable than MobileMe.  Well done, Apple.

MobileMe To iCloud

Just converted my MobileMe account over to iCloud.  I'm also working on help my family make the move.

If you're new to the whole iCloud thing, head on over to the website and sign up right now.  It's free from Apple and so far, it promises to be what MobileMe wasn't and it'll be an added value to iOS 5, regardless of whether you're on the iPhone, iPad, or Mac.

Pre-iOS 5 Release: Is Siri A Male or Female?

If you've never used Siri before, I can tell you that Siri was an "it".  It was just an app.  However, during the iPhone 4S demo with the enhanced Siri, the voice was definitely a "she", albeit a robotic female voice.  But is Siri really a she?

See, I think we need to hold our judgment on that for a while.  Siri started off as an app.  A bunch of codes.  Nothing masculine or feminine about that.  And it was likely a bunch of dudes who programmed and created Siri.  Apple decided to give Siri a female sounding voice in iPhone 4S but Apple could have just as easily went the other way.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, Command Data, the Android Star Fleet officer serving on board the USS Enterprise D, who longed to be human decide to follow a trait that most humans have:  to procreate.  So in "The Offspring", he created another android in his own image, his child. 

But he gave that android a name but allowed it to chose its own sexuality.  

Siri will grow with added features.  Its AI programming, I don't know if I am writing to call it that, will definitely become more sophisticated as years go by.  I'm not saying that Siri will become sentient like the androids, robots, or programs popularized in science fiction, but it could gain a distinct personality that could cater to the needs of the users.

So, perhaps, it's too soon to call Siri a her just because of the female voice the iPhone team gave it.  Maybe we should be allowed to individually decide if Siri is a he or she. Who knows, Apple could one day give users the option to personalize the voice as we can do now on Mac OS X.

Mobile/Privacy/Social: Social Networks Could Be More Troublesome Than Helpful

Facebook is one of the greatest privacy violator in recent memory since the Big Brother and the Oceanians in Nineteen Eighty Four.  And while it does seem at times that society is moving in that direction and we're not quite there yet (today, we learn that California will now allow warrant-less searches of mobile devices), online social activities by users seem to be moving us in that direction all together.

And while Facebook and other social networks are in it for the profit, it's likely that certain individuals or companies can go online and really do some damage to an user when given the right opportunity.

TheInquirer.net reported on a RSA internet security conference where Ira Winkler, a security guy, used the example of the Chinese intelligence apparatus going to Linkedin to target individuals or companies to obtain informations or informants.  Movie stuff, right?

Definitely not.  I've thought of such things.  I don't know how I would go about doing it (being that I'm not devious enough and all), but I'm sure others probably have thought of ways of doing that already.  

Just a couple of years ago while I was driving on ski trip when my friend was informed by one of his friends that someone pretending to be him is asking everyone of his "friends" on Facebook for their contact information.  So yeah, it can happen.

And then there are those location-based check-ins.  Android users have Google's Latitude and iPhone users will get "Find My Friends" with iOS 5 is released tomorrow but these services are nothing like the more popular Foursquare.  I use it from time to time but I also get a lot of weird folks trying to friend me.  So supposed I did and I check-in across town and it'll take me a hour to get back home.  That means it'll give someone about an hour to go through my house knowing safely that there's no way I'll be home for a while.  And chances are, if you check into a restaurant or movie, potential thieves have even more time.

So, how worried about you about such things?  I think we need to worry, a little.  We are only in the early days of social and mobile integration with tech companies push the envelope each and every single day.  And you've got companies like Facebook pushing the bounds of privacy, feign to be apologetic when there is an outcry and pull back a bit, and then when no one is looking, trying again.

Can you imagine a day when companies, perhaps with government support, require that we provide information that about what we eat, check into where we go, and provide other information in order to use technology.  Right now, Google requires that we use our real identity in order to use Google Plus.  What if one day, Congress made it illegal to create alias for online social activities.

Lines For 4S

Is anyone out there considering going yo wait in line for the iPhone 4S? The reason I asked is because I think most people who wanted one really badly will have ordered online through Apple or one of the three carriers in the US.

I just don't see the kind of demand that is really to rush the stores on Friday. Sure, some stores will have lines. Probably not as bad as it was for the iPhone 4 or iPad 2.

I just don't see it. Maybe I'm wrong. Love to be wrong.

So anyone joining the line on Friday? Or have you already ordered yours already? Or are you waiting for the iPhone 5?

Note: I'll be getting mine through the mail. Apple, I've yet to receive my email confirmation.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

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.