What Would a 4" iPhone Look Like?

9to5Mac has a post with pics on what a 4" iPhone would look like.  This seems to be the ideal size that many mobile fans are looking for.  Personally, I would love to have a 4" iPhone.  My aging eyes would not only appreciate it but I reckon the additional real estate would allow for more interesting mobileness.



Don't get me wrong.  Even if Apple doesn't come out with a 4" Retina Display on the next iPhone, the one after that, or ever, I would still very content with the current 3.5" display on the iPhone 4 and the 4S.

The question is would Apple be increasing the resolution of this theoretical 4" display?  Perhaps in the beginning, we might not see this.  Apple could still retain the same 960 x640 resolution with lower DPI and still call it a Retina Display because Apple marketing will rationalize that since this iPhone has a larger screen, you'll be holding further away from you and you still would not be able to distinguish the pixels.

I recommending heading over there and check out their pics.  I swipe one as you can see just to wet your appetite.  There more pics and a whole post examining how Apple would go about making this happen.  There is one portion of their speculation that I disagree with.

Care to figure out which one?

Carriers Struggle To Regain Control Over Handset Makers, Starting with the Apple

The future of mobile is about control.  Even as Apple, Google, RIM, Microsoft, and a few others battle for control of the mobile hanset market, it’s only a smart part of the larger wireless domain in which there are dozens of other companies struggle for the upper hand.  We’re talking about control.  With the right control, the winners get to tell not only end-users what they have access to but has the ability to dictate to others how they can interact with the customers.

This is why this post from a Wall Street analyst skews the picture.  A revolt against the iPhone?  Not quite.  Rather it’s an attempt by carriers to wrestle control they previously had over the handset makers.  With the popularity of the iPhone and Android devices like the Galaxy, companies like Apple and Samsung can dictate terms to the carriers.

And this had been a big alignment in the balance of power in the wireless realm that had previously favored carriers.

I’m not advocating that one company win over another.  Too much influence concentrated in the hands of a few isn’t good for us mobile warriors.  However, historically, wireless providers have never been our friends.

So, at the moment, with a due respect to Wall Street analysts, they’ll have to excuse me as I continue to root for Apple, Google, Samsung rather than AT&T.

Drop Likely Increase Invite Allotment To 500MB Due To Competition

I got an exciting e-mail from Dropbox over the weekend.  In the past, Dropbox gives us 2 GB of free storage when you sign up for the free account access.  But you can increase that over time if you invite friends, families, acquaintances, or whoever else to sign up.  If they sign up, you get additional storage.

The idea is that Dropbox hopes to convert you or someone else you invited into a paying customer.  So far, I think they're doing pretty well.  There was rumors that Apple considered buying Dropbox.  Now, iOS and Mac users have the iCloud.  Meanwhile, Google should be coming out with its down Dropbox competitor in the next quarter.

So, it's likely due to competition from these tech giants and other cloud storage players that Dropbox increased the invitation allotment from 250 MB to 500 MB.  This is fantastic news.  I was able to create dummy accounts to increase my space in the last (I also use those accounts for photos). What's also pretty cool is that space increases prior to this 500 MB offer will also be getting additional space.

Dropbox has become an indispensable part of my workflow.  I can store files on my Mac and access them at work.  Or I can use a number of iOS and Android apps that have native support for Dropbox.

This is just the beginning.  We are in the infancy of cloud storage.  This is nothing to cloud storage 2.0.  Seriously, 2GB is nothing today.  I can see Dropbox increase the free storage to 10, 20, or even 50 GB.  And for some folks, that still won't be enough because of the coming media storage capability.  Consider what Apple with its iTunes Match and Amazon and Google are offering in music.  We are seriously a skip away from even video storage.

And in today's HD world, 10 or 20 GB simply won't be enough.

Anyway, I encourage you to take advantage of this Dropbox offer.  We have a family account and it helps a lot when we sharing pics and videos.  So invite your friends, families, and people you like or dislike because this is a great deal.

And the best ones are free which this one is.

Apple Products: Mostly Mobile And Recession Proof

Today's jobs report was subpar and had the stock market been opened today, I'm sure there would have been a three-digit sell-off on the DOW.  Still, today's economy,while still in a slow recovery mode, is off life-support from when it was in 2008.  Apple was still under Steve Jobs and he vowed that Apple would innovate its way out of the recession.  No doubt Tim Cook would do the same.  

Should we go through another slowdown (very likely due to EU contagion), Apple's stock could be just as safe as US bonds.  Demand for Apple products are still strong.  So strong in fact that Apple is building a second Rome store in Italy, an EU country is could be counted as one of the likely to default.  

This isn't a stock post for Apple's finances.  Rather, we are wondering what it is about Apple products that make them so sought after even during the Great Recession and continues to sell in record amounts.  

What do you think Apple seems to weather economic turmoils better than its competitors?  It is just the premium brand, its dedicate fan base, or it's something else?

Apple: Macs Infected By Malware, Time For Apple To Educate Users More Seriously

First let me see I’m an Apple fan.  I would not go to the point of labeling myself a fanboy because I don’t get everything that is Apple. I like to have a good balance of Apple branded and non-Apple branded tech.  Over all, I’m just a mobile fan.  So, I say this next thing because it needs to be said.


Apple, you have to do more about security for the Mac.  Lately, there have been rumors cropping up about Trojan horses that have infected at least half a million Macs (luckily, my Macs are fine, as are my PCs).  In the past, I would have dismissed such talks as fear mongering by anti-virus app sellers that want to expand their reach into the Mac market.  For the most part, it’s the PCs that needed protection in the past and Mac users have largely require very little protection from viruses and other malware.

That was in the past.  Today, Macs are flourishing in the PC market and it’s a larger and more tempting target for hackers.

In the most recent incident, more than half a million Macs are rumored to be infected by a rojan called Flashback.  According to a Russian virus maker (yeah, yeah, I know…), even Macs on Apple’s campus were compromised. Apple has released a Java update but has yet to say a word about it.

Perhaps, Apple will eventually find a way for sandboxing like they do with the iPhones and iPads that will negate or roll back the need for malware protection.  Until that day comes, which could be as soon as the latest OS X Mountain Lion is released this summer, it’s prudent for Apple to be more active in protecting users.  It could be more frequent updates like they just did with Java, app updates like Safari, or  

Still, I do hope that Apple become more vocal about the seriousness of Internet security and educate its users about it.

Apple Using T-Mobile USA As Example To Carriers That Won’t Deal?

T-Mobile still doesn’t have the iPhone even as Apple adds 5 regional carriers that will start providing Apple’s iconic mobile device to their subscribers.  I know that the reason has more to do with the technical GSM deployment rather than Apple simply unwilling to make this happen.  Or maybe T-Mobile simply did not give Apple enough financial incentive to make iPhones that will take advantage of T-Mobile’s 3G network.  For speculation sake, let’s suppose there is another reason why Apple has yet to make the iPhone available on T-Mobile’s network.

Apple wants to show carriers what happens when they don’t deal with Apple on its terms when it comes to the iPhone.  With And T-Mobile, already kinda dying when AT&T tried to merge with it, Apple decided it would not harm its bottom line if it used T-Mobile as an example to any carrier that decides to cross it.  How else can you explain why regional guys with as little as 400K subscribers getting the iPhone ahead of some that still has thirty million subscribers?

Obviously, the operative word is “still” as T-Mobile continues to bleed users not only to carriers like iPhone-newcomer Sprint but also others with a better selection of smartphones.

Crazy speculation here?  Definitely not.  Consider this.  Apple may or may not have already struck a deal with China Mobile, the world’s largest carrier at 600 million subscribers.  You didn’t misread that or did I accidentally added an extra zero.  Six hundred million subscribers or about twice the US population.

There had been words in the media in the past couple of years that Apple and China Mobile were having difficulties coming to terms agreeable to both sides for China Mobile to start carrying the iPhone.  So, Apple offered them to its smaller rivals, China Telecom and China Unicom combined with more than 300 million subscribers.  Already, both of China Mobile’s smaller rivals are seeing benefits.

Any other carriers still without the iPhone can be pointed to T-Mobile as an example of what happens if they don’t carry Apple’s iOS devices.

I am sure Apple will eventually offer the iPhone to T-Mobile USA subscribers and those who remain will happily snatch up them up.  However, T-Mobile could pay a very heavy price to make that happen.  Just ask Sprint about the $20 billion deal it currently has with Apple.

Android Verus iOS: Even Regular Mobile Warriors Fight The War

I'm from UCLA and I hate USC.  With a passion.  I dislike everything about them.  Particularly how they cheat in sports.  And we are a better school.  Obviously, this is the duty of every Bruin just as it is the duty of every Trojan to show disdain for all that is Westwood.  At the end of the day, we're all Americans and it's mostly in good fun.

I have seen this behavior with fanboys from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM.  This is particularly true when it comes to the blogging community.  Some of it are in good fun but mostly, it's not.  It reminds me very much of the GOP versus Democrats.  However, I did not expect this bantering to extend to regular mobile warriors.

And this is especially evident in the harsh treatment of iOS users against Android users over the Instagram app. Seriously, some of the comments are just down right nasty (and funny).

I'll leave to them to you over at Cult of Mac and Phandroid.

It's just so interesting that regular users who I never suspected would care about the mobile war seems to regularly fight it out on social media and just about everywhere else as well.