Google Streams Music!!!

Source:  CNET.

It’s finally here.  Google now offers Spotify-like service – pay $10 a month for streaming music.  Not sure how this changes the landscape of music consumption yet.  There could be some defectors from Spotify and Pandora, even put a dampener on any plan Apple has for its own music streaming service.

Love competition!!!

Rest of 2013 for Apple: No Retina For iPad mini And Other Products We Can Realistically Expect

Tim Cook said no major Apple product launches happening until fall of this year.  So, I find it funny that we still need posts from analysts or pundits affirming that.  The latest is that from the MacDailyNews/Cult of Mac stating that no new iPhone models will be coming.  What's interesting is that the two posts above quoted the same analyst, Peter Misek, as saying that Samsung will carve out a bigger piece of the high-end mobile device market from Apple.  It remains to be seen if that is so.  The thing is that bigger screen smartphones are gaining steam but there is evidence that they're limited in terms of adopters who really want something that big.  On the other hand, Apple's customary 70% of the mobile profit share has shrunk to 57% while Samsung has picked up nearly all of the rest (Fortune).

Let’s go through realistically what we can expect in 2013:

iPad/iPad mini.  I’ll go one step further.  We will see a new iPad this year but we will not likely see a new iPad mini with Retina Display this year.  Personally, I’m fine with that because I’m looking for the next regular iPad with a redesigned form factor.

I don’t know how Apple will improve upon the mini.  Maybe faster internals.  But that’s about it.  I doubt we’ll see a price drop.

iPhone 5S.  While we’re likely to get a new iPhone model, we will not be getting one with a screen bigger than the iPhone 5’s 4” screen.  As for talk about a cheaper third world iPhone, I’m not banking on that.  Frankly, there isn’t really a need for that right now.  Installation plans in China and India has increased iPhone sales and we probably will see some good news out of T-Mobile’s new iPhone installation payment plans.

iPod (including the touch).  I don’t see a major change here.  Apple doesn’t need to upgrade anything here.  Tim Cook did mention a new product category and that’s where he’ll likely lump it into.  Folks are thinking iWatch.  I’m thinking it’s something more genic.  Like iWear.  You can wear iWear as a watch or whatever clever ways you can put it on your person.  But I doubt we’ll even see iWear.

iRadio.  Plenty of talks about Apple trying to strike a deal with the studios for music streaming.  It should happen whether Apple has everyone onboard.  Someone suggested Apple should buy Sirius XM.  They should but won’t.  Apple’s Podcast app is its future radio-like service that it intends to monetize for itself and content providers.  Consider this both Apple’s Youtube and Sirius put together.

Apple TV.  A new model does not appear to be on the books.  There have been false rumblings about an app store for the Apple TV.  I’m not sure Apple is ready with this yet.  The current Apple TV serves both Apple and users.  Unless new features that require upgrade hardware, we won’t be expecting anything new.  Also, forget it, Gene Munster.  No 4K Apple panels coming.  Your vindication will have to come next year.  1080p is just not enough of a splash for Apple.  Though I do believe that should Apple eventually release a 4K panel, it might be generous enough to keep the Apple TV around for those of us who still have and use the 1080p sets.

Trucks.  Macs and Macbooks will get upgrades.  WWDC this June would be a logical place for this to take place.  They may get announced but not ship until July or so in time for the back-to-school rush.  I suggested that we should see a redesign for some of the Macbooks, particular the Macbook Air.  I would love to see a small form factor somehow but that is just mere day-dreaming on my part.  We'll likely see newer Intel parts.  As for Retina on the Air?  I want so much to say "yes" but reality is a "no".  Smaller form factor with Retina Display for the Air is just too perfect for it to happen right now.

New Product Category.  I've already talked about the iWatch.  I'm leaning towards iWear if that.  As for other product categories, I like to see more iOS integration, not just Siri, in vehicles.  Maybe even a accessories for older cars.

I really don't want to speculate beyond this because anything else would be mere wishlists rather than what Apple is realistically willing to get into.  However, home integration seems be something that Apple has shown some interest in.  iHome kit?  Could happen.  I think that's more realistic than an Apple 4K television set at this point.

Conclusion:  iPad.  Yes.  iPad mini with Reina.  No.  Upgraded Macs.  Yes.  iWear/iWatch.  Yes/No.  iRadio.  Yes.  TV-related products.  No.  New Product categories.  No (maybe 2014 as Tim Cook mentioned).  iPhone 5S.  Yes.  5" iPhone.  No.  Cheaper iPhone.  No.

Social: Offering Paid Service Could Solve Privacy Issues

Source:  NBC News.

Last week, I proposed that if Facebook and other social networks or app developers, even search engines offer a paid version of their free services, it could go a long way in giving people choices regarding their private information and what is or isn't being shared.  After all, all these free services that have been blasted for sharing and selling user data to advertisers and third parties has to make money some how.

My beef with the likes of Facebook is the lack of transparency, and not whether they have the rights to sharing information about their users.  Also, I detest how companies change policies on the fly to manipulate the public and change their relationships with the users.

So, while I do believe some legislation is required to rein in those like Facebook, companies that provide free services can start charging them for people who are willing to pay to keep their information private.

Seriously, right?  Why haven't people started doing that?

Frankly, any legislation from Congress or other world regional bodies are themselves going to be so complicated and filled with loopholes that it wouldn't make sense at all to end users.  It will end up being just as bad as those privacy statements and rules Facebook themselves put out.

Right now, a bill in Congress, H.R. 1913, AKA Apps Act, requires companies of app makers and platform makers to "timely, easy-to-understand disclosures about what data they collect and how the data is used". However, I wonder if that is too narrow. There is no mention of social networks.

The bill would require companies to give users the means to delete their data once they stop using the apps.  Do you really think Facebook, Google+, and Twitter will comply.  And even if they wanted to, consider how sophisticated your Google ID is.

It would be infinitely easier if there is paid service that makes control of information much easier. And who knows, with paying users granted more control, they may be more comfortable giving up information of their own volition rather than having companies and their services/apps try to forcibly take it from them.

Steve Jobs Hated Fox News And Did Something About It

Okay, maybe like Steve Jobs, Rupert Murdoch was a disruptive force and that's why Steve seems to be okay with him.  But that did not stop Jobs from tell to Rupert face that he's blowing it with Fox News and pointedly asked if that's how he wanted to be remembered.

On top of that, Jobs did something about it.  He pulled all Apple ads from Fox News.  It's an interesting dynamics between the two giants of our era.  Right now, the Murdoch empire has no problems ripping into Apple as WSJ has consistently done in the last year with lame click-bait posts.

I'm sure Tim Cook and the Murdoch clan does not have the close relationship between Jobs and Murdoch.

Source:  Cult of Mac.

Surface Tablets May Not Be Selling Well But It Could Win the Long Game

Surface RT/Pro (Microsoft) may yet take a sizable pie of the tablet market and create a halo effect for Windows Phone in the mobile market.  This is not to say that it will happen.  Apple, Google, and anyone else will have to keep innovating and make sure it doesn't happen.  

You're thinking what is this guy talking about?  Surface sales barely register.  True but Microsoft isn't in this for a year or two.  Not like HP, Palm, Blackberry, or Cisco who all gave up easily.

I'm trying to remember a product in which Microsoft just hit it out the park.  Can you remember one?  

No One Microsoft Product Was An Instant Success Out Right

Windows?  No.  Internet Explorer?  No.  It's dominant position is due to some illegal and shady tactics in which Microsoft was fined a lot of money.  Both products are still going strong.  Xbox? Right now, the Xbox 360 is probably the most popular console in the world and the next version is even more highly anticipated than Sony's Playstation 3.  

Sure, there's the Zune and the multi-year failure of the Windows Mobile platform.  Windows Phone 7 was just as much a dud as its predecessor but Windows 8 for Surface and smartphones really stopped the bleeding.

Importance of Mobile Computing - Future is Tablets, Smartphones, and Wearable Devices

And given how important mobile is the future, Microsoft will keep throwing billions after billions of dollars at it until something sticks.  It has no choice.  The PC market in general has been stunted by a changing computing environment as well as the success of the iPads and Android tablets.  On top of that, the iPhone dominance in enterprise has proven that not everything needs to have anything to do with Microsoft or the Windows logo.

The day will come when the PC market, which won't go away, will become a niche market for those who need heavy lifting by their computers.  Windows sales will shrink and that would impact other profitable divisions and products like Office.  And those products are what brings in the billions in cash every quarter and allowing Microsoft to throw billions at money losing products.  

Unable and unwilling to give up, Microsoft may not be selling a lot of gears but it remains a part of the conversation and that is just as important at this point.

Next Step

Microsoft will continue to advance its R&D for mobile and Windows.  Surface 2 products will address some of the shortcomings pundits have with them.  For instance, the next Windows 8 update will bring back the Start button.  Microsoft is not above admitting that it has made mistakes.  It also isn't above trying to duplicate the successes of its competitors.

On top of that, Microsoft does innovate.  And it's most dangerous when it's behind.  And while Windows 8 has been blasted for confusing users, I'm not so sure that will continue indefinitely.  With one OS and one interface, Microsoft has made it more difficult for traditional Windows users but over years, the comfort level will increase.  

With the new UI, Microsoft has basically tried to trim years of learning for users and instead of releasing changes in increments like Apple might do, it has decided to leap years ahead, creating pain and chaos in the interim but could reap in benefits going forward.  

There is a risk to that.  The current chaos in the Windows market may for users into the arms of Apple and Google but then again, it's not like Microsoft has that big of a share to start.  It's a risk but one worth taking.  It's a disruption to be sure but one that could benefit it in the future.

Surface RT and Surface Pro symbolizes the hybridization between today's tablet and PC experience.  It's not elegant.  Not yet.  And eventually, it may be a route that Apple has to take.  For years, Apple has slowing added iOS features into OS X and visa versa.  

The difference is we know what the future of a hybrid tablet-PC looks like from Microsoft because we have the Surface.  Apple has shown that it has something in the works.  Maybe Apple's future hybrid iPad-Mac will work.  Maybe it is going about it slower than Microsoft.  

Maybe Microsoft will continue to innovate with the Surface that eventually becomes something that is more desirable than anything Apple can come up with.

Adobe Goes Subscription And, Soon, Maybe Apple's Warranty Service, So Why Not Everything Else?

Source: Arstechnica.

Adobe is going cloud-based and subscription for its Creative Suite. Microsoft has already done that with Office and more companies have gone down similar paths or are considering it.

Take Apple. It's AppleCare warranty products, currently are sold in an individual basis per device, could become subscription based soon. For Apple, it could be a changing landscape of how business is conducted. Recently, Apple was targeted by the self-serving Chinese central government over warranty issues.

What's to keep Apple from launching subscription services for other Apple products like OS updates and even iTunes services. iTunes Match is already something that Apple has offered since November of 2011. It's generally considered to be a precursor for a full on music streaming service. Furthermore, Apple is looking to strike a deal for video subscriptions as well.

For Apple, they will likely take their time with this and see where the market is headed. Netflix's services started with the DVD services with streaming added later only. However, there was a major in the summer of 2011 when it attempted to separate the DVD and streaming subscriptions. Apple is likely going to take its time to avoid repeating of Netflix's mistake.

All said, there is nothing that is going to keep Apple from going down the subscription route, for warranty, hardware or app services, or, eventually, more iTunes content.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

OS 10.7: Airplay Support From iOS To Use Mac Display Would Be Great, Keyboard & Mouse Support Too

I have one wish for the next OS X upgrade.  I know that with some apps, we can use the iPad's screen as an extension for the Mac if you need a secondary screen.  It's not a setup I've done but it's something I'm looking into.

What I'm interested in is being able to Airplay from an iOS device to the Macbook's screens.  This would be an awesome setup that would entice upgrades of Macs and iOS devices that may create a very sophisticated and beneficial halo effect for all of Apple's products and ecosystem in in general.

Such augmented Airplay features would also work with the iMac's screen or even a Cinema Display.  And I'm not just talking about mirroring.

Mirroring would be a great first step. But I like to see it go further.  When the Mac with the display is being used as the Airplay display, it should automatically know and allow added features to be implemented.

For instance, the user would be able to use the Mac's keyboard to control the iOS setup.  Say you have your iPhone mirrored over to the Macbook Air, you can then use the Air's keyboard to type a letter or surf the Web.

We may even see the iOS device use the Mac's Internet connection rather than the iOS's own to save power.

Such a feature could use the power-saving Bluetooth implementation rather than through WiFi.

If such a feature is introduced by Apple, we likely won't get everything at once.  We'll probably get mirroring to start and maybe the keyboard function.  The rest could come later as Apple wait and see how it works out and what features would make the setup better or as demanded by users or Apple itself.

There is plenty of need and use for such an implementation.  Gaming and watching videos comes to mind quickly.  You might have a presentation on your iPhone but nothing else to show it on but your client's Macbook Pro.  Or you just want to do a screencast or some form.

The thing is such a tie-in is a natural progression on both the iOS and OS X.  There is a school of though that Apple will eventually merge iOS and OS X into one OS, not unlike what Apple has now for Windows 8.

So, creating this new Airplay feature to merge an iOS device for use on a Mac screen would help Apple go a long way in trying to research for the future.  It'll be like when iPhone users began using the iPad.  There was little or no learning curve at all.

If Mac and iOS users become familiar with new functions in such a setup that could serve for a future mobile platform, any hybrid OS that Apple could eventually move to will be very familiar to users with all the powerful features and more.