When Siri First Learned She Was Herself - Meet The Woman Who Gave Voice To Siri

I wasn't not aware of this but with iOS 7, the voice of Siri has changed.  It's too bad but again, I couldn't tell.  However, Susan Bennett does.  See, she's the original voice of Siri.  And for the longest time since 2005 on July days in Atlanta, she recorded voices that would later be known to millions for those who iPhones and iPads and even to those who don't.

Siri has become a social icon and we have Bennett to thank for that.  Here's more on CNN.

Nike Fuel Band Event Set - Going Up Against Possible Apple iPad Event?

Nike is hosting an event to unveil it's second generation Nike Fuelband, which I'm am a fan of (Redmond Pie).  That and in of itself is nothing to get all that excited about given that the American public has a weight issues and are more comfortable being couch potatoes, but rather the date of the event:  October 15th.

October 15th is one of the two days that are likely to be used by Apple to host its iPad unveiling.  The second one is October 22nd (On Apple).

Here's the thing.  It's unlikely that Nike takes its cue from Cupertino so it sets its unveiling date any day it's pleased.  Having said that, Apple and Nike are good partners and likely in close consultation.

If both companies unveil their products on the same day, I can tell you whose products are going to get a lion share of the attention from bloggers and the public at large.

Assuming that both companies have spoken and worked out their schedules, October 22nd would likely be the day Apple unveils the latest and greatest iPads.  The 4th generation iPad was unveiled on October 23nd, 2012 and went on sale ten days later on November 2nd.

And if the October 22nd is the Apple event, the iPad will probably go on sale on November 1st.  Also ten days later.

App Stores Becoming Incubators For Mobile Players

It was just announced that Apple bought Cue (Appleinsider), a Google Now-like service.  It occurred to me that the app stores, whatever you call them, have for years been a sort of service incubators for mobile players.

Siri bought by Apple.  Bump by Google.  Google also bought an office suite or two like Quick Office.  I seem to recall that both Microsoft and Samsung have also dipped into the app store and plucked out an app maker or two.  Both Apple and Google have bought map app makers too.

Even Facebook, a mobile player of sort but not a mobile platform/device maker, even went into the app store and bought out Instagram for $1 billion.

More of this is going to happen in the years to come as competition in the mobile space as well as the future of computing in general continue to become a bigger and bigger slug-match among these cash rich tech and platform companies.

So, if you're an app maker or is considering it, keep this in mind.  Selling to mobile users is great but getting bought out because your service or app is so freaking awesome that Apple or Google finds you irresistible is even better.

Samsung Caught Cheating But Issued "Nu-Uh" Response. Does It Matter? Yes

Does it matter that Samsung is cheating on benchmarks for its Galaxy Note 3?  No.  Not to me since I assumed that they did, would, and will.  And I've not cancelled my Verizon Galaxy Note 3 order.  However, the question many are asking and taking sides on is whether this matters that they're cheating or not.

And the answer is absolutely it matters.  And this is why so far, Apple and Motorola/Google (Macrumors) has not gone into the benchmark game.

Most of us don't buy our smartphones or tablets based on just benchmarks.  Okay, in the past, some of us might make that decision to go with a certain PC maker or customization based on that.  However, most of today's mobile devices does not allow chip or memory customization like the PC market.

So, being able to claim on a benchmark test that could be important to some device makers, especially Samsung because it is facing public relations pressure because if patent issues, copying issues, and competition from the likes of not just Apple but other Android device makers like LG, Sony, and Google.

And coming out first is very important to them.  And if you were force to pick whether you trust Samsung's words (BGR) or that of tech sites like Arstechnica (post on Samsung's cheating), I'll take the tech guys any given day.

Furthermore, given that Apple's iPhone 5s sports a 64-bit chip architecture which gives Apple a head start in the next stage of mobile chip race and experience, Samsung probably found itself having to respond in mind.

And being able to say that you've got the fastest device makes it easier for the marketing guys to sell it to the public.

I'm not sure where Samsung's insecurity is coming from. They're the biggest phone maker in the world in terms of market share.  It's unlikely anyone will come close any time soon.  And the Galaxy brand is right up there with the iPhone.

The benchmark scandal, if that, will only confuse the issue for its fans.  And the public is not going to care one way or another if one device is a bit faster than another.  What they will be irked about is stories about cheating.

We Should Hear About iPad 5 Event Soon

Although I have no specific information, I think we should the hearing from Apple regarding a new October iPad event fairly soon. Perfect like everyone else, we wait for Apple to tell us when to mark calendar and call for the live blogs does who are fortunate enough to be invited to Apple's campus for the iPad event.

It's already October 3rd. Its typical the Apple give you a couple weeks to prepare. That means, we can text and it sent to fall on October 15th or the 22nd. Both of those days are Tuesdays. And we all know how Apple love to do events on Tuesdays.

I'm willing to wager that if it's the 15th, we should hear those privileged few bloggers and tech reporters to begin to receive their invitations this week. However, it is on the 22nd that's likely to fall on next week.

Then the following up question is how long after that will we be able to pick up or ordering the new iPad. That's a little hard to guess. It really depends on inventory build up Apple has prepared.

It is possible that Apple will open up pre-ordering on Friday after the event. Then, they will make it generally available for the public to go into the Apple stores and other retailers to buy them in person.

Between the 15th and the 22nd, I think it's like we were talking about the 22nd rather than the 15th. 

That is just me. Hope it's the 15th but life as you know has a way of disappointing you. So to be cautious I'm going to pick the 22nd as the likely date for the 2013 Apple iPad event but if it turns out to be the 15th, hey, that's even better.

iPad 2 Still On Sale - What Happens After iPad 5 Comes Out?

There.  You see?  iPad 2 is still on sale after it has been out since 2011.  We've gone through the iPad 3 in the spring of 2012 and then the iPad 4 the Christmas shopping season later that year.  Nothing in the spring of 2013 so we know something's up for Christmas of 2013.

And that would be the iPad 5.  I wonder if the iPad 2 will remain on sale?  After all, sitting at $399 with 16 GB, it's enticing.  Schools or folks who just want to save that extra $100. They can go with the iPad 2.

My feeling is that it'll still be around.  Maybe it'll be called the iPad Classic and might get an upgraded CPU to go with the times.  If that's the case and if there is enough demands, Apple can continue to put the iPad 2 with CPU updates each year without increasing the screen resolution.

However, it's also possible that Apple will get rid of it entirely.  Maybe drop the iPad 4 down to the $399 spot with 8 GB of storage for anyone who's interested.  There are plenty of people who can live off 8 GB.

One other scenario is that Apple will just get rid of the $399 entry point and point iPad owners to the mini instead.

Mobile: Blackberry Tells Wall Street What Main Street Already Knows But Was Surprised Anyway

The title of the post didn't quite get it.  Essentially, Blackberry is in a lot worse shape than they thought.  Worse than Wall Street expected as well.  Essentially, things are unraveling at a rate that Blackberry had not expected and the pace is picking up as customers look else where for their mobile fixes.

How's this to wake up to.  A $400 million charge out of its cash reserve, which Blackberry is burning through rather quickly, is 4x the expensive it thought it would cost to cut about 40% of its workforce.  Essentially, someone screwed up majorly.

It also says that the company could be worth less than what the Canadian insurance/financial company, Fairfax Financial, is paying for with the deal valued at $4.7 billion.  As of this moment, Blackberry has dipped below $4 billion.

The worrying thing is the defection.  I know this feeling as I expected it as an Apple fan back in the late 90s when many around me, particular the university environment which I was working in, began hooking up HP PCs in labs, replacing the rooms and rooms of Macs that were there before.  And while some of the professors and post-docs remained true, the departments were beginning to save money by going with cheaper Windows options.

Unfortunately for Blackberry, the smartphone market and is current situation is vastly more different than the one that Apple faced.  While Windows 95 and 98 had their issues, Apple was still able to convince enough of its fans that it can turn things around.  Sure, the Macs then were not that great but they were still enough to make us stick around.  And then, of course, Steve Jobs came back to Apple.

For Blackberry, the alternatives to Blackberry was not like Macs and Windows PC.  The iPhones and Androids are very good.  Not to mention that Windows Phone is beginning to take hold in certain markets.

It is over for Blackberry.  I'm hoping that we will see another refresh in the hardware before everything begins to unwind.  I'm hoping there is an improved Q10, maybe a Q30 that I can pick up before Blackberry abandons hardware development and focuses exclusively on software and app services.