Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Mobile: Man Waved Gun Around But No One Noticed - Why?

Source:  Yahoo.

I've done this before.  I'm so absorbed in my book, tablet, or whatever in public that I sometimes I notice what's going on around me.  I'm a perfect victim for a pickpocket for worse.  Well, that's what happened to a group of commuters on a train.

As surveillance video showed,a  man took out a gun and waved it around but no one noticed.  Then he sort of gave up and put it back inside.  

"These weren't concealed movements — the gun is very clear," District Attorney George Gascon said. "These people are in very close proximity with him, and nobody sees this. They're just so engrossed, texting and reading and whatnot. They're completely oblivious of their surroundings."

He even wiped his nose with the gun in his hand.  Just seem so casual.  I can't imagine what he was thinking.  In a way, he was probably shocked that he was getting away with it.  Until he decided to escalate things and shot a college kid.

Here is a more indepth report on the dangers of being too absorbed into one's mobile world and not be aware of what's going on around them.


I'll be the first to admit as I've stated above.  It doesn't have to be mobile but many times for us today, it's our mobile devices that have our attention and the main source of distraction.  This is not just about standing around looking down on your mobile device, become a victim of a crime, and then not being able to identify the assailant because you didn't see it coming.

It's not only about standing around.  It's about texting and walking.  It's about texting and driving as well.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Apple 5th Generation iPad Event: Window Between Last Year's iPad Mini Event And Invitation Was One Week

UPDATE:  ALLTHINGSD CONFIRMED 22ND AS APPLE'S MEDIA EVENT FOR iPad AND OTHER GOODIES! (ATD)

It's a new week.  So it is worth noting that we are inching closer and closer to the October iPad and even Mac event.  I just want to quickly point that that the date of the invitations sent out for the iPad mini event and the event itself last year was a week apart.

Today is Tuesday,  obviously.  October 8th. That means for an Apple event to take place next Tuesday on October 15th, we need to see the privileged few bloggers and journalists receive and brag about their Apple invitation today.


This pic here was from the invitation last October.

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Apple is likely to host their event on October 22nd and with the new iPad will probably go on sale on November 1st.  Plus, Nike, a close Apple partner, will be hosting their own event next Tuesday.  It's unlikely the two companies will host concurrent events even if they are not necessarily competing events.

Monday, October 7, 2013

Social: Girl Goes Nuts At Coffee Shop And Was Unable To Control Her Telekinetic Powers

You've got to see this!!!  There are those among us who have abilities beyond what's confined by physical laws and, you know, whatever.

You've got to see this to!


Friday, October 4, 2013

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.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

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.

If the 2025 iPhones Get 12 GB of RAM, Why Not the iPads?

I'm going to go ahead and make a prediction: the upcoming iPad Pro with the M5 chip will be upgraded to 12 to 16 GB of RAM. This is base...