Scully On Steve Jobs Firing - Interesting Details But Perhaps Also Revisionistic?

Did I just make up a word worth of being put in a dictionary?  Revisionistic.

That is what I think could be going on with John Scully, the for Pepsi seller of sugared water, who was lured away by Steve Jobs over to Apple and subsequently resulted in Jobs leaving Apple.

Here is more details from Scully himself.

If would be nice of someone could confirm or deny his version of events.  However, Scully's admission of his own lack of understanding of the visionary leadership that Steve Jobs brought is very revealing.  And perhaps up to that point, hardly anyone has ever encountered the kind of leadership that Jobs brought to a company.

Mobile Ordering: Letting Patrons Order With Their Phones

We're at a Japanese restaurant in Pasadena, CA on a busy Friday night (I should be able to make it home in time for the NASA moon launch tonight - if not, I'll watch it on my phone).

Even at this time, there is a long line of people waiting for their turn to be seated.




I like the people here. The servers work very hard, running around. I got to thinking. While it is good to have some interaction with the servers who are always smiling, it would sure help with efficiency if I could order via a dedicated app, leaving the servers to waste as little time running around.




It's my understanding many establishments already equip their servers with Android devices or iPads to enter orders. How cool is that right?

Even so, those places are in the minority. What I want, a dedicate app would go beyond ordering food. If I need a refill, more napkins, or need to order something else, I can use the app instead of trying to get the attention of our servers.

And one more thing, specials. Sometimes the servers are in such a rush that they go over the day's specials so quickly, it requires repeating. Instead, the specials would populate the app and the patrons and see what they are for themselves.

Of course, if you've for questions, well, that what the servers are for. For everything else, there's your phone.


- Posted using Mobile.

JAVRIS coming to iOS: Siri Should Be Worried

JAVRIS, if you're not aware, is Tony Stark's version of Siri but vastly better. It's what Siri should be and more. Well, we are a long way off from that.



However, Marvel Comic, owned by Disney, will be releasing a JAVRIS app for the iOS platform. Now, don't get excited. It's an app that will simulate some of the Iron Man look and feel at best. It will not work like that in the movie.

However, as an inspiration, Apple should look to JAVRIS in the Iron Man movies and strive to make Siri like the digital assistant.

Right iOS version does some stuff that Siri already does with ease - messages, weather, etc. But it sounds like real purpose of JAVRIS is for Marvel to sell ringtones and the movie to users.

It is unlike enough for me to download and keep using it. However, I do hope that the head of the Siri team watched the Iron Man movies and will get his team working on a JAVRIS-like Siri.

Source: iMore.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

View On Mobile: W're Going Back To the Moon! (Live Stream of NASA Launch)

This is posted from Clouding Around on NASA's moon launch of the LADEE to study its thin atmosphere.  You can download the Ustream app (iTunes) to view it on your mobile.  Whatever you're doing on a Friday night, it's probably worth dropping for a few minutes to watch this live launch.  How often can you say you witness a mission to the moon?

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NASA is due to launch the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer around 2330 (11:30 PM EST).  According to NASA's page,

"LADEE, managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., is scheduled for launch at 11:27 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6 from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va. NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE, pronounced like "laddie") is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. A thorough understanding of these characteristics will address long-standing unknowns, and help scientists understand other planetary bodies as well."

So, yes, I'll be looking to watching this live wherever I am.  Dinner, coffee, or gym.  The thing is that we want to study the moon's atmosphere (yeah, it has one) before the Chinese, Russian, and us Americans get there.  There is more info about LADEE at the Wiki page.

It'll launch aboard a Minotaur V rocket (more info at Wiki), a 5-stage booster system.

So, look for a live coverage to start soon (now!!!  They're late) and the launch about three hours from now.  This is very exciting.  How often can you say you witness a mission to the moon even if unmanned.

Live streaming video by Ustream

Talk of New 17 Watt Charger From Apple May Not Be For New Product But Better Battery

There was chatter all over the Internet earlier this week about the discovery of a new 17 Watt charger that Apple is working or already is sitting around ready to go.  Hence, the immediate reaction is "wow, new product!"

Maybe.  That was my reaction and hope.  But saying and thinking it doesn't make it so.  Which is why we also have to consider other explanations.

Extensions offered just one such plausible and likely scenario.  Apple figured out a way to add more charge and improve battery capacity within the same confines of the iOS form factor and requires a bigger and more capable charger.

I am assumed that this is for an iOS device, probably the new iPad because Apple may have fit more battery inside that thin body but needs a better charger to charge it.

So, there you go.  What do you think?  Is the 17 Watt charger for a new product or for the iPad because it now has a bigger battery?

I want to get into this more because it's fun to speculate but I can't help but share this one now.  What if it's a bigger screened iPad?  No way, right?!  Still, that would be awesome!

Apple and Google's Greatest Fear Still: A Resurgence of Microsoft

Let's be honest.  There is no brand recognition in consumer device that rival that of Apple.  Sure, we speak of Samsung as if it is in the same league.  It's not.  Not even close. The top line of the Galaxy S devices come close to one of Apple's iPhone.  Google is recognize as a brand only because of its search.  However, Microsoft is unique in that Windows is freaking everywhere even as the PC market slows and shrinks.

This why even as Apple battles Android devices in the mobile market, there has never been a fear of the Galaxy or Nexus brand overshadowing the iPhone.  Nor doe Google fear Apple's iCloud effort.  I mean, what a joke compared to Google apps, right?

Even as Microsoft's mobile and cloud efforts made Redmond looks confused and dazed, it is nevertheless a confused and dazed giant.  A very rich one at that.

If Surface 2 fails, it's like Microsoft has one more chance.  That will be its own Lumia phone.  Not the ones in the pipeline but maybe 18-24 months down the line when it has had time to work out one that is a definitive Microsoft device.

However, if that fails, then Microsoft as a going concern in mobile is likely over.  At that point, it could try to become an Oracle, IBM, or HP and let Apple, Google, or whatever's left to find out for the hearts and minds of mobile warriors.

Famed Analyst With Great Track Record Talks iPad 2013

KGI analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, has made a name for himself.  Alone, he has out predicted other fellow analysts and tabloid-like tech press like Digitimes.  And he's come out with more just days from Apple's iPhone event and weeks from new iPad unveiling.

You can read the rest on Macrumors.  It's plausible and makes sense to me.

I've got only one issue with this.  The lower-cost iPad mini Kuo focused on.  I think we will see it on 2013 and it's last year's iPad mini at a lower price.

It's unlikely that the Retina Display iPad mini will cost more than $330.  If anything, it'll take over that price point which is what the 2012 iPad mini cost when it first debut and even now.  This will allow Apple to lower the 2012 mini down to $280, maybe even $250 - one can only hope.

Kuo seems to suggest that Apple will offer a mini in 2014 that is different from the current iPad mini.  We had all assumed that the mini pricing model will follow that of the iPad, which is what I've outlined above.  When the iPad 3 came out, the iPad 2 was offered at a reduced price of $100.