AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Just for fun, I like to go to the Apple's online store and put together various Mac configurations.  From Macbook Air all the way to the 17" Macbook Pro, it allows me to see just how much a decked-out mobile Mac computer will cost.  Then wisely, I close the browser. On a couple of occasions, I even put it on my shopping cart.  Just to feel what it's like. Obviously if I wanted to, my credit doesn't have the heft to carry such a balance anyway.   But I was struck by the fact that there still isn't a quad-core CPU option for any of the MBP while PC makers happily sell them to users.  Perhaps that is why I never went ahead and ordered a MBP, 15" or 17", because for the same amount of money, I could have gotten a 27" iMac with quad-core support that'll let me fly when I work on my videos. So yesterday, I learned that Intel's Sandy Bridge mobile chips will only come out with quad-cores at first had me really excited.  Perhaps, we'll see 2011 a...

Apple announced the Mac app store will be available on January 6th, 2011.  Imagine waking up to this this morning.  Apple isn't known for making product or feature announcements without a major press event.  However, we have known for quite some time that the app store was going to open up soon.  But the question remains:  is the Mac app store going to have as big an impact as the iOS app store? Only time will tell but given some of the chatters, the MAS (Mac app store) will have quite a few restrictions.  No demo.  No in-app purchases.  Kind of a bummer.  But perhaps this is likely because we are merely in the infant stage of the store and Apple will incorporate new features once both developers and end-users have had time to work out the kinks and the bloggers have had their say.  Isn't that what happened with the iOS app store? And I have questions that I think most users will want answered: Will we need an iTunes account to use it or...

Convention says that the iPhone 5 will not be out until the middle of 2011.  June has been the month that Apple released new iPhones since the iPhone 2G.  That did not change for the 3G, 3GS, or the iPhone 4.  Could 2011 be the year that Apple changed all that?  Here's why I think perhaps they might go ahead and change things up a bit. There is a lot riding in the mobile market.  Tens of billions and Apple and Google are locked in an epic war for supremacy.  And with Google and its multiple Android hardware partners, they can easily stagger their device releases through the year, giving mobile warriors the appearance that something new and fresh is coming out of the Android camp.   But with Android 3 release coming in the first quarter, giving Google the ability to attack the tablet market, I think Apple is in a position to consider moving up the time table for the iPhone 5 release.  Just this week, Best Buy in the US gave out the iPhone 3GS for f...

With the arrival of iOS 4.2.1, Apple finally gave us the ability to print from the iOS devices via AirPrint.  And while that is a great feature to have, I am one of those who will not benefit from this new feature.  And today, with new firmware upgrades,  With Instapaper, iBooks, and Goodreader, I have been able to get just about everything I need from the Web and books without having to print them out to read.  This is especially true when I use the iPad.  Think about it.  Instant access to all the files I need with apps on the iPad.   Unless a mobile warrior is in a specific job where printing docs is necessarily, I don't see the rest of us who use the iPad to consume information finding all that much use with AirPrint. And frankly, will Android need this feature?  I am sure Google will have a similar implementation as Android push deeper into enterprise.  HP will most assuredly add direct printing into its future Web OS devices.   But...

After some hairy moments with Fedex on the delivery of my iSpot, I finally got in after days of back and forth with more customer service agents than I hope to deal with. And yeah, I am very happy with this mobile investment. In fact, I was able to get it up and running in less than 5 minutes of opening up the box the iSpot came in.

I've yet to purchase a magazine on the iPad.  But I am going to get Virgin's new "Project" that was made available for the iPad yesterday.  It'll cost $3 per issue while the app itself is free.  And oh, a version for Android and the iPhone is coming as well. What's interesting is that while magazine and newspaper publishers have waited eager for the iPad to save them, that hasn't happened. Honestly, I don't know what the hold-up is.  I cannot understand Apple's, specifically Steve Jobs,  revulsion for subscriptions is all about. So, this model Virgin is using may well be the next best thing.  Instead of subscriptions, publishers can release apps and allow users to download new content on a weekly or monthly basis.  They can also set up alerts and auto-payments to make this work more efficiently. And at $3, it is a fair price.  Much more so than the $5 that Wired is charging per issue.  I believe that the per-issue price will likely drop as th...

The Samsung Tab has two cameras. The iPad has none. And many of smart phones has two and more will follow. But do tablets need to have two cameras? I can understand the need for a frontal camera has more mobile warriors switch over to video chats as a mean of communication. With Fring, Skype, and Apple's own FaceTime paving th way to the future, frontal cameras are a must. But I have yet to see the need for a tablet to have a back camera. I can only see limited use for it. I get the need for the iPhone and other devices to have a back camera as a lot of users use their phones as a point-and-shot camera replacements. Personally, I don't see myself pointing my iPad or a future Android tablet at my nieces and nephews. A sales team might go out to take pictures on location but I am sure they'll likely have smart phones as a part of their mobile arsenal. Maybe when the next generation tablets come out, Apple and others will show needs for the back camera on tablets that I h...