Tablets Use In Bed Could Be A Really Bad Idea - Chipped Tooth

Source:  Cult of Mac.

Tablets are wonderful mobile computing tools.  But have you tried to use your iPad or any other tablets in bed?  How about ereaders too?  Doesn’t matter.  Great tools when you’re using them upright. Really bad idea if you’re laying in bed and holding it up.

I’ve had it slip a couple of times and really smashed my teeth in.  And guess what?  It happened to this kid in Taiwan when her iPad slipped out of her hand and chipped her front teeth.  Hope they’re baby teeth.

Video to follow.  So, parents…Tabs, regardless of screen size, iPads, Kindles – great to use when it’s not hoving over your face.  Oh, and the mom went out to buy a case of her daugther’s iPad.  I don’t think it’ll help, lady.

Samsung Faltered With Galaxy S III - Opening For Apple To Add Distance

The latest numbers showed that Apple has gained much since the iPhone went on sale over at Verizon and Sprint and it's lead over Android in the first quarter of 2012 could extend further from what I can see with its biggest competitor:  the Galaxy S III.

Pic from Android Central

So far, the response has not been overwhelming.  It's an evolutionary improvement from the II to the III and Samsung added a Siri-copycat that does do much.  It's as if Apple did not give Samsung enough to copy from with the iPhone 4S and their engineers and designers don't what else to do.

Am I asking for a 10- or 12MP camera?  No.  Bigger screen?  Would be nice but not really.  I definitely want better battery life and if Apple can be so good as to make that wish come true, I'm definitely upgrading from my iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.  That alone would do it for me.

However, I don't think that would be enough to make everyone else happy.  So, where are a few things that I think Apple can do to increase its mobile lead over competitors and get even those among us who bought the iPhone 4S because of Siri to upgrade.

Okay, the first feature I want here aren't going to get iPhone 4S users to upgrade.  What I want is Apple to finally take Siri out of beta.  Or barring that, because Siri could be in beta for years, give Siri a few more tricks.

• launch apps
• tweet or uprade social networks
• API for app integration - being able to speak and get directions would be nice
• be able to control settings

The above four features for Siri would be enough to make people want to use it even more and entice those who have kinda let Siri fall to the side to come back.

Another feature I like to see is a more social iCloud, call it "iCloud Social".  The Find Friends app is pretty neat but it's very anemic.  I have been using Placeme despite my privacy concerns and I like that it checks me in automatically into places.  By check-in, I don't mean in the way Foursquare allows users to check into Starbucks. Rather, Placeme records places I've been.  But I would like to see more integration with Foursquare or other social apps.  

I use Path and it allows me to sign into Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and Foursquare.  I like Apple to make iCloud be the central hub for all my social apps.  And one of the features I like about Path I like to see in this iCloud Social is it allows me to keep some information private.  I can check-in a place without the world or just my friends knowing about it.  

Mobile payment with iTunes integration would wow people big time.  It's like Steve Jobs said, they've got hundreds of millions of credit numbers already.  Apple could make ecommerce or physical purchases much easier.  Right now, it's not at all.

For instance, I've got my Starbucks cards that I use to get rewards and drives from Starbucks.  When I need to refill my app, I have to whip out my credit card to do that.  Tedious.  But if it's integrated with my iTunes account, I can just tell it to send over $20 to my Starbucks app and off I go to caffeine dreamland.

Those are three main features I'd want right away.  I am sure you can think of a couple others.  Maybe Apple TV apps and integration with iOS devices.  What else do you think Apple can do to make life better for us iOS fans and more difficult for its competitors?

iPhone 4S' Newest Samsung Competitor: Galaxy S III

Here is a video from Android Central I found on Youtube of the just unveiled Samsung's new high-end device, Galaxy S III.

It's got a quad-core CPU (dual-core for some markets like the US, maybe), 4.8" screen, and 720p.  It also has a 2100mAh battery and we're gonna need it to power this huge screen.  There are other bells and whistles like voice control, kinda like Siri.

There isn't anything here that is going to have current Galaxy S II users upgrade in drove or iPhone users to defect.  4.8" screen is like but I wouldn't want this on a phone.  Maybe if Apple releases an iPod touch with a 5" screen, I would go for that.

Putting a 5" screen next to my small head when I am talking on the phone just looks kinda weird.

Who's Making Money In The Mobile Market?

Source:  Fortune.

From this chart from  Asymco, it's very easy to see who's making the big bucks in the mobile market and how things have changed since 2007, when the iPhone was introduced.  Back then, Nokia was the king of profits.  Today, well, it's the iPhone maker, Apple.



Some hard and fast data:

• Apple has less than 9% of the handset market but accounts for 73% of all the profit.
• Android accounts more more than 50% of the market share but probably has the rest of the 27% profit.
• Of the 27% profit for the Android device makers, Samsung, now the world's biggest handset shipper, has 26% of that 27%.  
• Apple and Samsung has smothered the dollar count with 99% of the profit.

However, a second chart (which I'm gonna make you click over) shows that it isn't as if Apple or Samsung is taking money away from others.  Rather, it's that the pie has grown since 2007 but it's these two rivals that are getting the lion's share of the profit.  Well, okay, may Motorola and Nokia kinda lost out a bit.

This is only a snapshot of we see today.  Obviously, things will change.  Windows 8 is on the wing as is potentially Blackberry 10.  Maybe things'll get shake up a bit.  Not likely but could still happen.  The mobile war we're witness is still young.  I'd say about half way through the second quarter.  

Now, what I like to see is just how each ecosystem is performing against each other.

I Want This Concept Liquidmetal iPhone 5

Source:  iDownload Blog

Gimme, gimme, gimme!!!

I want this concept iPhone 5 as envisioned by Antoine Brieux, a French designer. 

So far, the device looks quite like what I described as how Apple could give us a bigger than the current 3.5" Retina Display without doing too much to make the next iPhone's body bigger, thus, harder to use with one hand.

In may difference from what I described and this concept iPhone is the home button is gone.  The screen itself is the home button.  How that'll work UI-wise, I can't say I have a good idea for.  However, given that multi-touch gesture on the iPad that allows the user to swipe between apps and for the multi-tasking panel at the bottom, Apple can certainly go that route.

Yeah, I want this iPhone!  Recently, I told a friend of mine that she should go ahead and get the 4S because I don't think the body of the device will change too much.  Boy, if Apple does unveil the next iPhone with a form factor even remotely close to this, someone's gonna be very pissed off at me...

RIM Delivers Blackberry 10 But Still Needs To Execute And Show What Its Mobile Vision Is

RIM showed off its newest but yet to be released Blackberry 10 OS today.  So far, all signs points to things stabilizing in the short-term for RIM if the Canadian mobile giant can deliver as promised.  However, how long before things start crashing down again?  Don’t get me wrong.  We want RIM to succeed but it’s not as simple as coming up with a mobile device that is on par with the current mobile trend-settings like Android.  Look at how long it took for the Playbook to get features like e-mail?  And even then, the Playbook has not managed to make any kind of inroad in the tablet market.

Let’s say RIM manages to deliver on what’s promised – a new Blackberry handset running the latest and greatest OS with some very impressive features, what then?  It would not only have to show that it can keep up with the big boys but RIM has to show what it has planned beyond that.to give supporters what is beyond mobile.

For a while, RIM might be able to do at best is hold onto its corporate market a bit longer.  However, in a world where more workers are given a choice of Android devices, Blackberries, and iPhones, it goes beyond just mobile.

Apple has built an ecosystem that few can rival.  Perhaps, the closest to come to the iTunes ecosystem is Amazon with its Kindle ecosystem.  Google and Microsoft are at least trying to replicate this system for their own respective mobile and desktop operating systems.  What does RIM have beyond what was once a promising tablet and a shrinking mobile market share?

Let’s look at some of RIM’s competitors.  RIM doesn’t have the reach of the likes of even Samsung or Sony – both with media boxes and HDTV.  Even Sony has its Playstation brand and media empire.   And being able to reach into the living is a must for mobile players.

What about the big three?  Google has already advanced Android on many HDTVs.  Microsoft is banking that windows 8 as well as its loyal Xbox market will give it an advantage.  Apple’s Apple TV strategy is still a hobby and there are a lot of signs that its’ ready to let go of that label and take the whole iTunes system up to a whole new level.  And I haven’t even gotten into rumored Apple-branded HDTV yet.

And what of RIM’s cloud stategy?

Cleary, in addition to developing and releasing Blackberry 10 devices on time, RIM has to show that it can keep up with its competitors.  It has to find partners to provide media like video, music, and ebooks.  It has to find a way into the lives of its customers and make itself an indispensable part of their lives and not just provide a means for mobile communication.

The following video demo of the BB10 keyboard shows that RIM can in fact innovate.  The problem isn’t necessarily that.  It’s execution and vision.  So far, both remains lacking.

New Dark Knight Rises Trailer!

Just got this in my inbox from WB.  Said it's a new trailer for the sure super hit, The Dark Knight Rises.

Definitely the must see movie of the summer. Sorry, Avengers is awesome looking but Batman is where the story's at - pain, sweat, and, of course...Vengeance!

I've already watched the trailer 3 times before I realized I haven't shared them with you yet.  I'll be watching this in 3D on IMAX.  Hopefully at an Arclight theater without kids yapping and texting (or kicking the back of my seat).