The Smart Panel Running Android - Desk or Coffee Table Could Be In Our Future

Source:  Android Community.

Before there was the Surface RT and Pro, there was just the Surface.  It was Microsoft's own overpriced tabletop touch screen device.  It was pretty awesome by most reckoning.  Very much ahead of its time.  Now, check out the Android-based touch screen below.

I don't know about you but I figure Apple certainly has something like this in Jony Ive's lab.  And I wonder maybe, just maybe Google should have head everyone off at the pass and release this instead of the Chromebook Pixel.

Maybe Samsung'll do the honor.  Between Google's glasses, iWatch or whatever, this probably will get more mileage than those.

So, guys, forget the smart TV.  How about the smart desktop or coffee table?  I think I probably will get more out of this than anything else.

Apple Doesn’t Have ID Crisis – Currently Going Through Shift In Identity And That’s Good

Source:  Insider.

We b*#ch and moan about analysts and, yet, websites continue to link to them.  But in this case, I cannot help feel I have to address the idiocy that is currently permeating on Wall Street with regards to Apple.

Apple’s stock aside, it’s kicking butt left and right.  It’s dominating the tablet market in terms of units sold, not shipped like others.  iPhone sales were stunted by the fact that it could not make them fast enough.  The same goes for the iPad mini. 

Changing Identities

As far as Apple’s identity goes, Apple is no longer Steve Jobs’ company and certainly not in the way he ran it.  This is Tim Cook’s company.  What remains is the same innovative energy that existed before and probably with Tim Cook giving people greater freedom to innovate than ever before. 

For those who laments the fact that Tim Cook may not be the product or design guy that Steve Jobs was, That is where Tim Cook is going to get that innovative juice from – from the smart people who works for him.  Like letting Jony Ives off the leash.  Like letting hardware guys go nuts about what the future holds. 

Changes it that is not going to happen overnight.  What products Apple releases this year and next may be more evolutionary but certainly, the same folks who came out with the iTunes, iPhones, iPads, and Macbooks are still there but with greater freedom.  Is it going to be better than what Steve Jobs could have achieved?

We’ll have to see, won’t we?  Mistakes will be made like the recent iMac launch.  Over all, Apple will continue to churn out products that people will be winning to stand in line for to buy and change society.  We’ll get our iPhone or iPod watches.  We’ll get lighter iPads with better battery life.  We’ll get apps on Apple TV as well.

Maybe Siri will become sentient.  I think at this point, that maybe the only thing that satisfies anyone right now.  Or maybe we’ll get smart cars in ways that only Apple will envision. 

Whatever comes next from Apple, It’ll have Tim Cook’s influence, not Steve’s.  And that is a change in identity.

Wall Street Needs To Have Its Head Examined

However, you know who has identity crises?  Wall Street analysts.  The fundamentals for Apple or the mobile market has not changed.  They cannot deal with the reality that Apple is doing very well but not insanely so.  They cannot deal with that fact that while Apple has yet to tap the Indian market and only begin to gain a foothold in China, they want it to happen overnight. 

Apple Doesn’t Play Defense – Plays By Its Own Rules

And as for Apple playing defense?  Since when is a bad thing for one company’s product to usurp another of its own and grow it beyond it’s original size.  That’s what Apple’s iPhone did to the iPod and what the iPad is now doing to the Mac.  The only difference is that Apple’s products is also decimating markets of its competitors.  Ask HP and Dell and the PC market in general how it’s been going?  Ask former number one phone sellers Motorola and Nokia how things are.

Apple has one game:  bring out the best product it can that its people will want to use because that’s what people would want too.  There is no offense or defense at Apple when it comes to bring the best product it can make.  And that is one thing that has not changed at Apple. 

It’s always possible that Apple can falter.  In fact, one day, it will falter or have another company overtake it.  However, given the number of years and the discipline that Steve and Tim had worked together and the discipline that Apple has shown, it’ll be a long time before we really see any kind of crisis at Apple.

Steve Didn't Care About Apple's Stock Price, Nor Does Tim 

As for Apple’s stock, who cares?  Certainly not Tim Cook.  Okay, he might be but only a bit.  Certainly Steve Jobs didn’t care.  But neither Tim or Steve would publicly say that.  Whether it’s at $300, $400, or $1000, Apple will be doing whatever it has to do.  In fact, I think it might be a better idea for Wall Street to keep driving Apple’s stock down further so that Tim Cook can arrange to take Apple private and not have to worry about what Wall Street thinks.

-->

Mobile: iPhone 5S and Galaxy S 4 is Coming, So What?

Source:  iMore.

There is rumors that the next iPhone, the iPhone 5S is coming sooner rather than later.  Word is that the HTC One is coming.  But you know what? I think the Galaxy S 4 is also around the corner too.  In the US market, the next iPhone and Samsung's flagship device will should be out around the same time.

What does that mean?  It means absolutely nothing if you've already got an iPhone 5 or Galaxy S 3.  Or even if you just bought the latest Blackberry device.  And if not and you're in the market for something new now, you can't go wrong with the top end devices on the market.

It doesn't matter what will be on the horizon.  I've stopped looking at what's out there further down the road and I could not be happier.  Just being happy with what I already have or what I can already get on the market now.

The iPhone 6, iPhone 7, Samsung S 5 and 6, or whatever else will always be coming out.  That's what's so great about competition.  We mobile warriors benefit from the technical back and forth between Apple, Google, Blackberry, and Microsoft.  But we can't let it keep us enjoying the here and now.

Bloomberg on iWatch: Total Cow Waste

Unbelievable Bloomberg iWatch rumors:  Biometric on the iWatch?  Puleaze...

The Loop called it.  I don't know where Bloomberg is being led here.  Yes, it's being led by someone for unknown reasons.  I figure at this point, it's probably Apple PR trying to screw with the market.  I can see competitors now scramble to figure out just what Apple is up to.

At least, the Verge has something more real when it discussed issues with the battery life.

Regardless, the consensus seems to be that Apple will release a new device unlike anything currently in its line-up.  It'll likely go up against a plethora of Android watches as well.  Oh, and don't forget Google's glasses as well.

On Rumors:  It shows just how low journalism has fallen.  It has failed to keep up with changes blogging has done to reporting and now mainstream news sources have become blogs themselves by reporting on unsubstantiated rumors.  Can you imagine if this kind of blogger-type of reporting is translated to news that truly matters and instead of reporting on facts, journalists just go by rumors?

Oh wait...I think it already has been like this for years...never mind.

-->

Security: Evernote Warning Should Mean Changing Our Online Behavior and Complacency (And Passwords Often)

If you don't know by now, Evernote has warned that everyone change their passwords because "Evernote's Operations & Security team has discovered and blocked suspicious activity on the Evernote network that appears to have been a coordinated attempt to access secure areas of the Evernote Service". (Evernote blog)

A couple of observations about this.  Before I start, I want to say that this is not specific to Evernote.  In fact, various media outlets, like the New York Times, Washington Post, and WSJ, along with tech giants like Yahoo and Google in the past and, more recently, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, and Microsoft were all victims of coordinated and sophisticated hacking attacks.

And with more of us putting our data in the cloud, through various services and webapps and apps, we have to assume that one or more of them is always under cyberattacks and threats.  Furthermore, we may even have to assume that some of our data has already been compromised.

So, constantly changing passwords becomes all the more important than ever.  Backing up your data is also very important - not just stuff on your PC hard drive.  This goes for any banking or online purchases you might undertake - while you probably cannot back up your all your data, you might be able to download some data or take screen shots.

Also, don't think just because we spend more time on our mobile devices and less on PCs means that we are any safer.  Complacency is going to be a big killer.

Regardless of what Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, or your online bankers say, we cannot assume that they will be able to protect us thoroughly.  I reckon we are just one major attack away from really putting the fear of God into all of us.  And I think such a major attack is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

I've got a lot of my Evernote, e-mails, and other online docs backed up as are my passwords on a mobile backup drive.  I'm not sure that's even enough.  And it does take discipline to do all that I've mentioned.

It's like credit card frauds.  I've had it happened a couple of time to me already.  It happens even though I thought I've done everything I can to be careful.  It happens.

Just like a cloud attack.

-->

Disrupting Television and Radio: Apple Will Use Podcasts To Revolutionize How We Consume Media (It Has Already Started)

Source: Yahoo.

Recently, there have been some chatters out what iTunes and the App Store means to Apple's growing ecosystem. What folks are not talking about is podcasting and what it could truly mean not only for Apple's future but for media in general.
The problem with podcasting is how it started and how folks have since come to see what it means.

I've listened to podcasts long beside Apple made it a household name. They were everywhere. Not like today but if you google audio broadcast for the Internet, you would have found something. Of course, things have changed. iTunes is very easy place to find a podcast on just about everything and every subject you want to listen too.

Tons on mobile tech, politics, entertainment. And now, video podcasting seems to be taking off. But the misnomer that this is amateur is still sticking. Obviously,for those I'd is who listen to them judiciously, we know that quality various. You've got TV broadcasts that are provided by networks as podcasts like CNN or MSNBC to broadcasts from NPR and other public radio apparatuses. Then you've got stuff that are produced cheaply out of out of people's apartments via Skype.

If you examine Apple's decision to pull podcasts out of iTunes and create a dedicated app for it, you can come to the conclusion that perhaps, there is a different media channel that Apple wants isolated from the rest of iTunes.

I suspect that Apple will eventually offer an iTunes model that will allow podcast producers to monetize their work not unlike what they've done for the TV show models, allowing users to purchase individual podcasts or subscribe to a set or season of podcasts.

This will be a whole different boom for entertainers, content providers, and individuals that the old media model that we are familiar with. This is simply a new shift that broadcast and cable/satellite providers will not be able to provide or keep up.

Suppose a band produces a series of performances, audio/video contents, and even exclusive music via a podcast subscription. This would allow them to connect with its fans in ways that music labels or even the iTunes Store can do.
Or even radio drama or NPR can release podcasts but for a little extra content, listens would be able to paid for a subscription for an extra hour of interviews or video.

And let's not forget ad-supported podcasts that I am sure you're already familiar with. Audible.com is a frequent sponsor of podcasts I listen to. I am sure free but audio supported podcasts will still exist when Apple moves the monetization of podcasting along.

And why not? We are likely talking about billions of dollars that are currently being left on the table for both Apple and podcast providers.

I get the feeling that this may be in part to what Steve Jobs was referring to when he said he cracked television. He's not necessarily talking about getting media owners to liberalize their content and unbundle their channels but empowering producers and other media providers to distribute their audio or video shows directly to consumers.

When this new podcasting dynamics take off, watch out. This will totally disrupt Hollywood in a big way and utterly destroy the current notions we hold about television and radio.

Social: POTUS Likely Lost Space Geek Votes (Not That He Needs Them Anymore)

Source:  Politico.

I have never seen a Star Wars fanboy agree with a Star Trek ensign agree on anything regarding their respective space saga.  Have you?  My guess is you probably never had both in the same room before.

I think it would take Starfleet armada to take on a Death Star but you never want to discount anything when guys like Kirk or Solo gets into the mix.  This is not about SW versus ST.  I know better than to go down that road.

This is about President Barack Obama’s “Jedi mind meld” in his sequester speech.