Apple: In Tim We Trust

Since Tim Cook took over for Steve Jobs, what we have seen at Apple is quarter after quarter of growth.  It’s insane what Tim Cook has achieved.  And he has the advantage over other CEOs at competing companies in that he worked under Steve Jobs.  No matter now you look at it, I’m sure some of the reality distortion magic has rubbed off on Tim Cook.

And despite the fall of Apple’s stock price, the reality is that Apple as a company has been dominating every market that it has a product in in terms of profitability.

In the immediate aftermath of Apple’s latest earnings result that came out on Tuesday, we can safely say that Apple continues to be in good hands under Tim Cook’s guidance.  He has learn and grown.  Case in point is the iMac fiasco which he owned up and said that he should not have announced the iMac back in October of 2012 when Apple just was not ready to ship yet.

No CEO at any other company would do this.  Think, folks.  This is huge!  Never will you see the CEOs of Google, Microsoft, HP, Dell, or Samsung own up to their mistakes.  Because of this, Apple fans and investors can proudly declare “In Tim We Trust”.

Going forward, we can look at Tim Cook’s management in this matter.  Software and hardware development will continue hand-in-hand smoothly given the changes in personnel last year.  Ives will have all the room he needs to make the best product he can design.

And products will be launched when they’re good and ready and they’ll be good and magical because the are products that Apple’s liberal art influenced programmers, designers, and engineers would want to make for themselves.

Tim Cook hinted no new products until fall of 2013 and into 2014.  He doesn’t want to rush things.  When the timing and the right technology is at hand, he'll pull the trigger.  He already projected Apple's 5" iPhone.  Until trade-offs are addressed, Apple will not release it.

There will be short term pain in the stock market.  A lot of distractions but he’ll do his best to shield the rest of Apple, the Apple that as a company is doing well, from it all.  He’s already promised to give back $100 billion to investors.

Also, Steve Jobs’ vision for Apple’s place in the living room will continue to evolve as the whole iTunes ecosystem is augmented with new deals from content owners.  Apple TV will eventually graduate from hobby to being a major pillar in Apple’s strategy for mobile and home entertainment.

Meanwhile, Tim Cook will also be laying the ground work for the future in terms of supplies and manufacturing.  He’ll make nice with the corrupt Chinese government and continue to make inroads into India to grow Apple’s markets there.

All the while, Apple will push into new markets.  Take this week’s iBeetle which provides us with a taste of what Apple’s plans are for the automotive industry.  Will Apple make a car or just be happy that cars in the future will be iOS ready?  No one knows for sure and Tim Cook and his team will evaluate and see now the market evolves.  Maybe Apple will be just fine and happy with drivers bring their iPhone into their car to act as the vehicle’s brain or maybe Apple will see something no one else has and get into the market with its own Jony Ives designed vehicle.

New products with no compromises, growing ecosystem, new markets, continuing search for markets to disruption.  That’s what Apple will continue to do.  It was like that under Steve and continues to be the case under Tim.

Twinkies Making Their Yummy Return In July!!!

The title said it all…NBC News has more.  The rest of the Hostess brands also coming back.

I should end the post here but I can’t help but take another dig at the union.  Look, I get that unions are good.  They have a purpose but when unions become an entity unto itself and tries to get bigger at the expense of the individual workers, well, it becomes what I like to call “cancerous”.

Again, unions are good if they do what they are supposed to but in the case of the Hostess company, all those unionized bakers and support staff all lost out because it put its interests as an entity above the workers.  Isn’t that what cancers do?

Once more, hooray!  Twinkies are coming back!!!  Now, to commemorate this occasion, someone make a Hostess mobile app and game!

LSD Conference – For Real Or Just Trying To Create Another Steve Jobs

Source:  Southern California Public Radio.

So, kinda a full circle. In middle school, we were told how drugs, expecially like LSD, was going to ruin our lives and I generally still believe that which is why I don’t ever be experimenting with any kind of mind altering additives for whatever reason.  However, a psychedelic conference will be discussing how LSD and other similar drugs can be of benefit to neuroscience and medical benefits to treating conditions like alcoholism.

Of course, as you well know by now, Steve Jobs tried LCD during his younger years and had an eye opening experience.  Whether that is attributable to his genius or not, well, who knows.  Jobs certainly thought it was one of the most profound experiences of his life.

He also suggest that Bill Gates should try it because he was just such a boring guy.

Wireless Mergers: MetroPCS Approves T-Mobile Takeover, Sprint Would Benefit from Softbank

Source:  Wireless Week.

When President Obama was about to sign into law the Affordable Care Act, an open mic caught Vice-President Joe Biden telling POTUS “it’s a big fraking deal”.  I substituted “frak” with the other well known “f” word.  And whether you agree with it or not, it was.  And while recent moves in the wireless merger and acquisition market are that earth shattering, T-Mobile bulking up with MetroPCS after its revamping of the whole wireless industry in the US with its new pricing plans and Softbank (though it isn’t over given Dish is trying to muscle in) looking for a foothold in the lucrative US market by buying Sprint, those are big deals too.

Today, MetroPCS approved of the deal to merge with T-Mobile.  The newer bigger company will provide competition to AT&T and Verizon Wireless neither have seen before.  And Softbank will give Sprint a life line that not even the iPhone can provide.

Both companies will offer greater variety in a wireless market increasing dominated by AT&T and Verizon.

And if you don’t remember even five years ago, you were unable to get flagship devices on any carrier but the top ones.  Today, flagship devices have proliferated across national and regional carriers because of competition among the carriers and between the device makers themselves.

So, while not healthcare reform “big deal”, a stronger Sprint and T-Mobile are huge deals for the wireless market and awesome for mobile warriors.

No 5” Or Greater Screen for iPhone While Trade-Offs Exist

Someone ask Tim Cook during Apple’s financial call today.  What Tim Cook gave as an answer was very interesting.

First, he gave the same Apple line about iPhone’s screen.  It’s the best out there.

Of course, you think that would be it and then ask for the next question.  What he said next was interesting and gave me hope that we might see a future iPhone with a bigger screen, 4.5”, 4.8”, 5”, or greater than the 4” screen on the iPhone 5.  Cook said that as long as certain trade-offs exist, it’s a non-issue.  So, if whatever these trade-offs are met, then we will lkely see a new form factor iPhone with a bigger screen.

What could these trade-offs be?

While near 5” and 5” screens on iPhone’s competitors exist and are flooding the market, such as the Galaxy S 4 and HTC One, Cook seem to suggest that they are made with these technological trade-offs.  Screen quality is one thing.  However, from what I can see, 720p and 1080p screens on 4.5” and 5” screens look great.

I think the larger issue is also battery life and to some extent, the graphics that has to be pushed out to power these big screens.

Size, namely form factor and Apple’s insane fetish with thinness, battery life, and graphics are all issues that Apple has to deal.  Similarly, we saw this in the iPad and iPad mini.  The iPad 2 did not come with a Retina Display as many had hoped because of the power required to drive such a display while maintaining its size and weight.  And when the iPad 3 did finally get the Retina Display, there was a slight increase in weight and thickness.

The disappointment in the iPad mini released with no Retina Display is also an issue as well – Apple just was not able to fit in a Retina Display within the thins form factor and weight they were aiming for while having the battery life be the same as the regular iPad.

We are seeing the same thing is a potential 5” iPhone.  Apple is shooting for this in the 5” iPhone:

• Weight.  It has to be lighter than competing devices.  And it cannot weigh significantly heavier than the iPhone 5
• Thiness.  It has to be at least as thin as the iPhone 5 but still maintain its form factor without compromising the integrity of the screen so that it can crack easily.
• Graphics.  Apple’s silicon team has to find a way to drive a 5” screen with conceivable higher resolutions, which means driving more pixels than ever, without using more power.
• Battery Life.  At the very least, it has to have the same usage per charge as the iPhone 5.

So, in order for Tim Cook to release a 5” iPhone, it would have to be as thin as the iPhone, screen has to be stronger, still very light, and maintain performance parity or better than the iPhone 5 which now stands at 8 hours of Internet use (10 hours on WiFi), 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of audio playback.

Actually, as far as performance and battery life goes, Apple will try to shoot for iPad like numbers in terms of performance and battery life.

So, once all these factors are met, we’ll get our 5” iPhone.

Signs That Your Mobile Device Is Infected By Malware Or Viruses

Windows used to be the playground of malware and viruses and it still is but as more and more users migrate over to mobile, the spread of bad apps and data stealing malware have spread especially on Android.  There is no denying that.

Here is a sort of a beginner's post from Read Write regarding virus and malware on your mobile and signs that your device might be infected.  While the post is directed at Android devices, make no mistake, it's about all mobile including iPhone, Windows Phone, and other platforms as well.

First, your battery life.  True if the malware is doing stuff in the background.  The post talked about displaying ads.  I think worse things can and probably are happening.

Then there's dropped calls.  I'm not so sure about this one.  While the post hesitates to blame the carrier, I don't have that issue.  However, the rest of the post are more interesting.  Slow performances, higher than usual phone bills, and data spikes.

Now, keep in mind that none of these alone could be attributed to malware.  Battery life on any device is pretty bad in general even a pristine Android install like that on a Nexus 4.  And yes, while Apple has done wonders with the battery life of the thin iPhone 5, it's still "meh" to me.

But you get bad battery life, lots of data, slow performance, and you getting charged for things you did buy or services you don't have, that's usually a good sign your device is infected.

No, Apple Is Not Secretly Trying To Out Tim Cook - Forbes Now Just A Regular Blog And Throws Journalism Out

There are a couple posts since this week that seemed like an orchestrated effort to discredit Tim Cook specifically and Apple in general.  See, there are folks who are suggesting that Apple has begun looking for Tim Cook’s replacement.  Bull crap (feel free to go stronger than that).  I’m not going to be linking to them because it just feeds this beast.

So, I’ll like to Fortune’s counter post on this and I recommend reading it as it puts what’s going on at Apple in perspective – namely, a dysfunctional stock market with blatant abuses and manipulations that the government is helpless to do anything about and an once respected business magazine (Forbes) that has turned to company hacks with agendas or axes to grind.

Apparently, and I've felt this as well, Forbes has hired itself out to be used as an investment and agenda driven blog site for "financial" and tech bloggers that has questionable analytic skills and documented biases towards one company or another.  And these days, Forbes knows that to drive traffic, getting on the Apple bashing bandwagon gets eyeballs.

In fact, on this Tim Cook replacement topic, Forbes has competing posts about that.  What better way to game the click-bait game than to play both sides?

However, it’s not to say that Tim Cook isn’t without blame.  Heck, I’m not sure he is to be blamed for anything.  All I am saying is that maybe someday, just maybe Tim Cook may be replaced for something he did.  After all, no one is perfect.  Even Steve Jobs made a few blunders at Apple and elsewhere.  But if does happen, it’ll be cause Apple fans demand it.

And right now, Apple fans and bloggers are just as happy with Tim Cook as they have been with Steve Jobs.

Whatever happens or results from Apple’s earnings for the last quarter, I only know that they’ll make billions and add that much if not more in cash to its accounts and will do what’s good for the company with it and the stockholders be damned.