AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Meet the Archos 5 Internet Tablet . Archos has been making multimedia devices for the longest time. And generally, they work as advertised. It's the battery life that people haven't been happy about. But then again, who has been happy with their mobile devices' battery life anyway? But what makes Archos 5 Internet Tablet more significant is that it runs Android. That's right, the same Android that is the backbone of an increasing number of mobile devices from Motorola, HTC, and Samsung. So, I wonder if Apple should have released an iPod Touch with a bigger screen. Perhaps something that's 5-6 inches in size. After all, the new mobile chip powering the iPod Touch and the iPhone are capable of support higher resolution and the bigger body format will allow for a bigger battery. A bigger form factor also allows for additional memory as well. Would you buy it? Personally, I can't wait and can only wonder why this has not happened yet. Surely, if Android dev...

That's right.  I'm hoping Zune HD challenges Apple's iPhone.  ipod Touch.  And today, Sony unveiled new music players.  They're difficult to remember because they've got code numbers instead of names of "nano", "shuffle", or "classic".  But I hope they do well too. In fact, I hope these products challenge Nintendo's DS and Sony's PSP.  I hope the MP3 market gets some kind of jump start this Christmas season.   While this is an Apple blog and occasionally, I enjoy trashing Apple's competition good naturally, at heart, I'm a consumer just like you.  And that means I want longer battery life, more memory, more features, and faster rate of innovation.  And let's face it.  That'll only take place if there is competition in the market.   While Zune HD's arrival is a welcoming sign that the marketplace, particular the mobile device market continues to be very dynamic, it was disheartening to see that Redmond isn...

One of the things that Apple rumor mills have not brought up in a while is the talk about iPhone Nano. Obviously, it's not quite going to be what the iPhone or the iPod Touch is capable of if there ever is an iPhone Nano. I'm not saying there is but let's suppose one is in the world. We have to assume that it is. Having said that, why am I bringing this up now? Basically, we're moving away from an one dimensional device, such as the MP3 player. For a while now, the iPod line has stopped being an MP3 player san the Shuffle. The Nano and the Classic as been a multimedia device for the long time, ever since it gained the ability to play simple games and, later, video files as well. Now, the Nano has a feature. In case you missed it, Steve Jobs started off the "Let's Rock" even on September 9th and introduced this shopping seaon's new iPod lines. The Nano, now in its 5th generation, gained a new feature: video capture. Not only that, the chip insid...

In most surveys in the past, the weak link for the iPhone has been ATT. Over dinner last weekend, I missed to the opportunity to ask the plethora of iPhone owners their experience on their brand new iPhone 3GS and how their services and battery life was like. In any case, the latest survey from Strategy Analytics showed that battery life is what users are most unhappy about with their iPhones. Well, unhappy might be too strong a word. Honestly, I'm not sure how much things will improve with OS updates and future hardware upgrades. We aren't exactly seeing a breakthrough in battery technology. Plus, if you haven't noticed, we are in the beginning stages of a mobile hardware war - speed and 3D acceleration for gaming and other mobile features. It isn't as simple as the old Mhz war between Intel, AMD, and PowerPC but it'll be about cores and graphic accelerations. As a result, battery life will be continued to be impacted greatly. Plus, Apple will never produce...

I play a lot of games on my mobile devices and since they're covered by many other sites, I normally shy away from bring it up here. But seeing this game on Touch Arcade today, I have got to share this with you. There's a PC version if you can't wait but the iPhone version is coming and it is a perfect match for your iPhone or iPod Touch's finger-friendly multi-touch screen. More at Touch Arcade

I have debated whether I should upgrade my 2nd generation iPod Touch when Apple upgrades the iPod Touch hardware this fall with similar specs like the iPhone 3GS. My hope is that the fall upgrade will also bring us the elusive iTablet but as I have mentioned in other posts, I don't think it'll be released until 2010.  But if we are surprised for one reason or another, this is one that I hope to be wrong about. Back to the question of whether I should upgrade or not.  Appleinsider is reporting on a report that the iPod Classic could be upgraded this fall and it won't be the last.  Not only that, it may have a camera.  In fact, I think Apple can extend the life of the Classic with just such a move. As I've said, this puts my upgrade plan into a tale-spin.  The new iPod Touch is likely to be upgraded with a camera as well.  So this even things up with the Classic.  However, the Classic will have a larger storage.  And I can do with a player wit...

Here is the order of how I think best to read a book today: With a real book On a dedicated reader like Kindle. On the screen of a tablet PC.  This includes the XO.  Tablets allow the user to orient the screen. On the screen of a laptop or netbook. On a mobile device like the iPhone or iPod Touch. Now, here is a list of preference in terms of overall usefully to a dedicated mobile warrior such as you and myself: On a mobile device like the iPhone or iPod Touch. On a dedicated reader like Kindle. On the screen of a tablet PC.  This includes the XO.  Tablets allow the user to orient the screen. On the screen of a laptop or netbook. With a real book. Notice the Kindle sat in the runner-up position on both list.  After coming up with the list, that was a surprising realization for me as well.  It's not just Kindle.  Sony's eReader and whatever readers Barnes and Noble will share with in early 2010 also fall into this category. But if you're a traditional bookworm, a real pa...