Apple Has To Improve FaceTime And More Its Communication Features More Social

FaceTime use in my family has been limited.  Clearly, Skype has won this battle.  However, the video chat or conferencing war will continue to go on.  With the 2012 iPad introduced and went on sale just this past weekend, Apple could have made FaceTime a more central element of mobile communication.  While that clearly did not happen, Apple can still move forward on this.

Here’s why I think that’ll happen.  Apple first introduced iChat on OS X years ago and while over time, it gained video chatting, it languished as Skype and others take over in terms of features and popularity.  And with all things Apple, apps can sit in developmental limbo as far as users are concerned.  Apple will give no clue if something is being worked on or allowed a slow painful death.

We finally got FaceTime on the iPad and iPhone last year and the Mac got it with Lion.  As a user, you can’t help but feel the app is a bit spartan and Apple is trying to figure out where to go from there.

Then this year, we got Messages with iOS 5 and Apple killed off iChat on the Mac in favor of OS X’s own Message app.

But as a user, you have to ask why Apple has two separate apps for communicate, by one text and another by video, when it clearly makes sense that Apple should have kept iChat and merge FaceTime and Message into it.  After all, Message still retains IM capability.

At the same time, Facetime is still an one-to-one enagement.  I would have liked to see it gain multi-user abilities.  For instance, I would have to be able to chat with my nephews and my mom all at the same time.  And clearly, there is a very good feature to have for enterprise.

Another feature I like FaceTime to have is maybe just the ability to chat via voice.  Call it VoiceTime.  Skype can do all three of the most common communications for mobile:  instant messages, voice, and video.

So, Apple has some work to do in this regard. FaceTime needs more features.  And Apple needs to make its communications tools more like Skype in terms of features and integration. Furthermore, Apple should make FaceTime and Message more open for social media integration.  And by social, I mean allow apps access to voice chat or messaging.

Imagine if you’re editing a doc or blowing away aliens, you can initate or answer calls or messages without having to leave whatever you’re doing.

Verizon's New Family Data Plans Set To Roll; New Take on Family Feud Coming

It looks like Phone Arena has a screen shot of Verizon's upcoming family data plan.  The pic depicts a planner so that the subscribers can decide just how much data they need.  Sorry, but I reckon this is the start of a new "family feud" once the new data plans go into effect.

Personally, I'll never be able to share.  I'm a data hog and I freely admit it.  I think it's for some families.  Definitely not mine.  Can you imagine your little ones taking all the data playing games and videos?  Yeah, not good for the pocketbook.  Maybe the grandparents won't use their data allotment.

Can Apple's Razors One Day Become Blades?

Apple has been making some curious moves in the last year and things have rapidly accelerated in the last six months. And we are getting indications that Apple's whole mobile plan as well as the complete ecosystem is only far from complete and has plenty of room to expand.

And it got me thinking that perhaps, in using the razor and blade analogy, we could one day sees Apple switch gears and sell its iOS hardwares as the razor while the whole iTunes ecosystem and whatever else market Apple expands into will become the blades, giving Apple growth that is far beyond what Wall Street expects.

Any taker on where I am going with this?


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Apple To Announce Decision On $100 Billion Cash

Through an alert, it was made know to me that Apple will be hosting a 6am EST meeting to discuss what it has decided to do with some of the $100 billion in cash and investments. There are two popular options: 

Dividends and/or Stock buyback

I hope its not dividends. What would be the point in that?  A $30 to $50 billion stock buyback would do more for Apple than anything else.  Please, Tim.  No dividends. 

-- Sent from my HP TouchPad

2012 iPad: Woz Waits In Line Like Everyone Else, Shares Thoughts on Apple's Future

I like that Steve Wozniak has to wait in line just like the rest of us.  I'm sure Apple can make an exception and ship Steve one every year but this is not how Woz would have preferred it.  He enjoys waiting outside with everyone else.

And I think all the lucky folks who happen to have in the same line also enjoyed his presence.




Also, head over to What's Trending for the original post for more details about Woz's thoughts on the new iPad and Apple's future.

2012 iPad: Wow, Oh, Wow...Oh, Wow...

How often do you buy a car?  Until the lease runs out for some people.  A couple of years after the loan is paid off.  Or if you're like me, 10+ years or until it starts to fall apart.  For laptops, they're closer to 3 to 4 years.  How about the iPad?

The reason I'm asking is because I think people are beginning to settle in on a biannual upgrade schedule.  Or at least, I think they ought to be because the 2012 iPad is just rocking fast, awesome, and magical.  And I wanted to say that you should not take my word for it but, in the case, you should.  In this case, I'm not exaggerating.  I don't at all just because I'm an Apple (more importantly) a mobile fan.

I've had the new iPad for 24 hours now and its use has been limited.  A majority of the time, I've spend it doing just one thing:  read.  Reading Instapaper, long posts on the Web, and iBooks and Kindle apps.  It's just that amazing.

The iPad is about the screen.  Now, don't get me wrong, it's fast.  It's got new features like dictations and a much improved rear camera compared to the iPad 2, but it's about the gorgeous screen.  I have the original iPad as well as the iPad 2 and there was hardly any major screen difference between the two.  Now, the new iPad with its Retina Display simply blows them away with its crispness.

Now, as a mobile buff, I have to admit one thing.  I love my original iPad and after some time with the new one, I'm giving it to my mom who is a great woman and I want her to have the best.  Settling back on the iPad, I'm gonna miss the screen but, in terms of productivity, I'm going to miss the new features.

I'll get more into how the new iPad fits into our workflow for 2012 and beyond.  It isn't just one feature in the new iPad that is a game changer.  Rather, it's the well-designed combination of the improvements Apple made to the new iPad that will vastly improved the user experience.

Google And Others Should Face Criminal Prosecution Hacking Safari Privacy Violations

Before I start, I am both an Apple and Google fan.  I love Apple’s seamless integration and I purposefully live within its walled garden.  At the same time, I love the everywhereness of Google’s Android OS and apps.  And I think Google has done great things to liberate information and made our lives so much better.

Now, I get to the subject matter.

Today, we learn that Google is facing additional attention from the US and EU regulatory bodies over their hacking of the Safari privacy issue.  Essentially, Google hacked into a vulnerability that Apple failed to plug.  Yes, yes, Apple screwed up and allowed this vulnerability to exist in the first place.  Shame on them.  I’ve always been annoyed with Apple’s slowness to get these things done.  However, Google did use this security hole and essentially hacked into Safari that allows them to install tracking cookies.

Now, Google isn’t the only one.  Other ad companies have been known to have done the same thing.  And that, the EU as well as the US government should bring criminal charges against them.

Consider this.  If you or I did this, we’d be in a lot of trouble and we likely would have to lawyer up by now.  Civil suits would the be least of our problems.  I can see New York’s attorney general bring the hammer down on us.  Just because it’s Google or other corporate entities, not individuals like you or me, should not mean they get treated differently under the law.  As individuals, we’d be known as hackers, and not in a glorified manner.

There are individuals that operate these companies and made the conscious decision to use a known vulnerability to hack into web browsers and violate user privacy and their wishes that they not be tracked.

Google is already facing a whole host of privacy probes.  So, I don’t get their stupidity in this instance.  And I do wish that Google and others are bought in front of a court and made to answer.

As I said at the top of the post, I’m both an Apple and Google fan.  As an Android user, I’ve got no issues with Google knowing what they know about me.  As an iOS user, what I don’t want to share with Google, I don’t.  And they forced open that door that I wanted closed.

So, that’s why I think Google should not eventually face civil judgments on this but criminal ones as well.  And yes, if Apple or anyone else pull this type of shenanigan, they should face the same prosecution as well.