Twitter's App Upate Is Very Meticulous and Applesque

Source:  iMore.

Twitter just updated their iOS app in ways that is very Apple-like and so much so that I started writing this post with "Apple just updated their iOS app...".  What is much improved is search and a bit on looking at a webpage within the app.

Small incremental updates to an improving app.  so much so that I've deleted one other Twitter app because the official one is already good enough.

What also very Apple like is removal of features.  Additional video upload services is now gone.  Remember now Apple sometimes get rid of competitions from their Macs or iOS?

One feature I really would like for a future update (sooner rather than later) is the ability to have more than one account.  It would really become the one true Twitter app for power users.  This isn't something that the average mobile warrior would need but it would silence that vocal minority once and for all.

Back to the Apple-like improvements.  There were more than a few folks who about a year ago talked about how Apple should acquire Twitter because it would be a natural fit and that Apple would have its own social media platform.

I found that to be very unlikely to happen as it is not in Apple's DNA.  After all, Apple wants some form of control on iOS and OS X but it also wants to place nice with the likes of Facebook in the very competitive mobile market.

And that is what Tim Cook did even when Steve Jobs wouldn't play ball with Facebook's Zucker (I know that's not his name but that's my pet name for MZ).

It also says a lot about how Apple's influence has changed its competitors and those who are striving to be like Apple.

Apple Store: You Don't Wanna Sit On This When You Visit An Apple Store

Source:  Mac Blorge.

See those black round balls where people can sit on them?  They're mostly for kids.  Which means they'll pee on them too.  

iWhatever: That’s the Danger to Apple’s Dominance

Apple HDTV.  iWatch.  Cheap plasticky iDevices.  What they all have in common is that they could be Apple’s potential downfall in diluting the brand too much.  Just as Apple did not make a small slow netbook when people were clamoring for it, Apple is now being pressed to release products to satisfy the irrational and manufactured doomsday scenario that for some reason, Apple’s $130 billion+ in cash won’t allow it to weather.

Supposed if Steve Jobs caved to analyst pressure and release some cheap $400 Mac netbook that sluggishly ran the full OS X .  Apple would be crucified by the tech punids.  And then, how would Apple try to justify releasing $500 iPads or $329 iPad mini that doesn’t do all that the Mac netbook could run.

Instead of the netbook, Apple answered with the iPod touch for a few years before killing off the market entirely with the iPad.

Apple innovated instead of releasing a $400 garbage and waited for the right time to release a truly innovative solution.

Innovative product.  At a time of Apple’s choosing.

Apple’s strength has besides it’s innovative history is something that many other companies do not have.  Consider how much more products Apple’s competitors have on the market and the number of categories that they’re involved in.  If the key is getting into as many markets as a company possibly can and then try to cover the whole spectrum of the market with one or two flagship product and then cover the bottom with a flood of cheap products, Nokia, Motorola, and Samsung should be making much, much more money than Apple or anyone should.

And yet, Apple’s mobile profit has been twice that of its nearest competitor, Samsung, and bigger than many of its competitors put together.

Innovative product.  At a time of Apple’s choosing.  It’s called discipline.  Remember what Steve Jobs said in 1997, "I'm actually as proud of the things we haven't done as the things I have done. Innovation is saying no to 1,000 things."

 And this was not the first time Steve Jobs has said this.  He gave a similar quote to Fortune in 2008 in saying “we tend to focus much more. People think focus means saying yes to the thing you've got to focus on. But that's not what it means at all. It means saying no to the hundred other good ideas that there are. You have to pick carefully. I'm actually as proud of many of the things we haven't done as the things we have done”.

I have no doubt that Apple is still the most innovative company in the world and will continue to be so in the near future.  Now, let’s see if Tim Cook and Apple’s management has the courage and discipline to say “no”.

Traditional Watch Companies Need Not Be Blinded By The Coming Onslaught Of Smart Watches

With all the talk about Apple and other tech guys getting into wearable gears like watches, I wonder how many of those folks are shaking in their boots right now about.

Or should they even be worried?

Watches, along with those high-end purses, really speaks to status than anything.  So, while some brands could potentially suffer, certain brands should be able to weather any onslaught the mobile guys are likely to dish out.  It’s unfathomable that Apple, Google, or Samsung will have the cool factor to come out with $10,000 smart watches that can challenge Rolex’s name.

Forget the uber-rich brands for now.  Even some of your more mainstream brands will continue to have appeals as regular watches simply because they are regular watches.  These days, everyone has a mobile device that could tell time and, yet, the companies that make watches, likely were hit hard during initial surge of smartphone adoptions,  have survived and still managed to keep on ticking.

It’s likely that they will continue to have their customers even when smart watches do hit the market.  They’ve got two options.  One, they can continue to make watches.  Sure, they’ll get hit a bit more but those companies that survive should continue to endure.  Second, they can join in the smart watch war.  They can consider both options and even bloody the noses of the mobile guys.

I recently just bought a pretty nice watch that does nothing but tell time.  It’s got a style I like and also because it was not a smart watch.  I totally see other folks who love watches and the style they bring to continue buying and wearing time pieces that do nothing more than tell time (or date if at all).

There will be a market for watches.  Just like there is a market for dedicated GPS devices even though they were hit hard when every mobile device makers added GPS chips to their phones.

Yes, the watch makers have to worry.  However, if they plot their future strategies carefully, I think they’ll do well.  Not all but most top tier guys and those who are able to market themselves smartly can even thrive.

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.

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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.