My Turn At Predicting Apple's Financial Health

I’m not a financial analyst or anything close but I thought I would use today to do some math of my own based on all the data I can find on Yahoo Finance and see if I can make a better prediction than Wall Street. See, I don’t care about the numbers even though I do own Apple stocks (like eons ago just when Steve came back. It was part of a basket of stocks that I never sold and didn’t know I had). I’m in this for the long haul. This is going to help me retire some day.

 So, I’ll put some numbers up and we’ll see how close I am three months from now.  I suggest you do the same and see if you're better than pundits and multi-millionaire Wall Street analysts.

Truth is, I think your number will be just as valid if not more so than the so-called professionals.

Tablet: Vox, Underpowered Tablet, Challenges Fire, Nook, And, Maybe, Everyone Else

Kobo has announced a new Android-based tablet (the smartphone flavor) that will cost $199, same as the Kindle Fire, but it will be severely under powered with only a 800 Mhz single core chip.  However, these days, specs are not enough to sway an user to one tablet or another.

What's interesting about this is an attempt of a social book club.  And here's the thing.  It has a 7" screen with the same 1024x600 resolution as most other 7" tablets.  What's different about its screen is that Kobo claims to use an "AFFS+ display with anti-glare" - same tech used in airplanes.  That was what caught my eyes.  Right now, as you know, tablets are not all that great for operations outdoor.

It doesn't stop there.  Free RDIO music stream, games and 15K apps.  Yeah, the Vox has will have more apps than the Touchpad and RIM's Playbook put together. Those are not the only freebies.  As I recall, neither the Kindle or Nook has this kind of material to start the users off.  Of course, we don't know if this is an app store that it is operating on its own or that its using someone else's.

So, why Vox?  Kobo has no choice but to join the tablet rush.  It's totally a defensive move.  It's an attempt to fight off Fire and Nook. And if it does succeed, the Vox will be a building platform for Kobo to expand its offerings.  The loss of Borders stores likely has hurt it greatly because Kobo e-readers were sold there.

At the end of the day, any kind of competition in the tablet market is everything we mobile warriors can ask for.  The Vox is not going to challenge the iPad and Galaxy Tabs of the world, but it could hasten the price drops in the sub-10" tablet market.

Amaon remains the strongest in this part of the market because of the strong Kindle brand.  It remains to be seen if these ereader companies turned tablet sellers have what it takes to traditional tablet makers.

And at Vox going for $200, the same price as the Kindle Fire, Kobo is sending a clear signal that it wants to fight for what rightfully belong to it.

More at Kobo.

Wanted Future iOS Feature: Ability To Flip Apps To Hide or Close

One of the most unique features I've seen in Web OS (on my Touchpad), is the ability for the user to hit the home button and see all the open cards or apps.  On iOS 5, you can do the same by doube-tapping the home button.  Okay, about the same thing.  It's the same thing on Android.  What makes Web OS, and now with Android 4, is that you can simply flick an app and close it.

I like that.  Apple, I like to be able to flip an app and close it.  Shut it down.  Right now, I have to hold down on the app icon that's running, wait until it starts to vibrate, and then touch the "x".  I think it's some Apple copy this feature from Web OS.

It's okay.  As far as we know, Web OS is dead.  I don't necessarily want Apple to copy the cards feature.  I just want to be able to hold down on the button and flick the app that I want closed.  Heck, Google is copying this feature from Palm, so, it's not shame.  We'd just be copying Google copying Palm.

In fact, I think both Apple and Google can learn a lot from Web OS.  Here's a video over view of how Web OS works on a Touchpad.  It's worth investing the time to watch it because it shows just how neat Web OS is that even Google is copying one of its most convenient feature - closing apps.



I'm hope iOS 6 will bring us some of the above features.  In fact, Apple ought to take Web OS off of HP's hands.

Which iOS 5 Features Will You Want to See Come To OS X?

I imagine more than a few iOS 5 features will eventually migrate over to OS X.  It probably will not happen within Lion's lifetime but it certainly could happen in the next OS update.  So, even with Lion just barely three months old and iOS 5 and iPhone 4S just released, let's examine which iOS 5 features we Mac users will like to see in the next version of OS X.

Currently, we have iCloud integration in OS X.  It was a first step that was needed simply because of the iOS update.  Furthermore, you can get that iCloud in its current form is far from the vision that Steve Jobs and Apple has for it.  iCloud is simply Apple's insurance plan to solidify and expand on its Mac-iPhone-iTunes ecosystem.

So, whatever new features iCloud will get, I'm sure parity will happen for both iOS devices and Macs.  That's a given.

The first iOS 5 feature I like to see on OS X is Notification Center.  Yeah, that's right.  You thought I was going to say Siri, did you?

With the Mac app store coming along nicely, look for Apple to eventually allow push to come to Macs. With push, what good is Notification Center?

So, imagine when apps are able to push information to our Macs.  Mail, iMessage, and sports alerts.  Even weather and stocks update like we have now on the iPhones (the iPads do not have native weather and stock reports - hence, they lack those two key updates).

In my NC setup, I get Foursquare, Facebook, ESPN, Gamecenter (Yeah, this could come to the Mac as well), and reminders.  Those are just a few important ones that I can remember off the top of my head.

The menu bar on the Mac is long big enough that Apple can implement a scrolling list of alerts and updates from Notification Center.

Siri - The New Search Engine?

For the moment, Siri, Apple’s new killer feature, is all the rage and has helped Apple sell over four million iPhone 4S this past weekend. The demo and the word of mouth from Apple, specifically iPhone fans, has permeated through the blog world and has entered the mind-share of the mainstream public.

More than that, Siri is still only in beta. For now, some might be able to argue that its abilities are limited. For the most part, I would have to agree. Siri has gained some features that are already available on Android via Voice Actions. And Google will surely double its effort to beef up its own voice feature. And beyond that, Siri can give snappy and sometimes sarcastic responses that has evoked amusement from users. But truly, that is all, isn’t it? If that is the case, why is Siri so popular? Will its use die down over time once the hype is over?


More at Greenjava.

iPhone 4S: Dictation Is A Feature You Don't Want To Ignore

This post isn't dictated but other posts that you've read since Friday were.  And they were dictated on the iPhone 4S.  Obviously, the best feature in iOS 5 isn't on just iOS 5 but on the iPhone.  Siri is only available on the iPhone 4S. And so is the ability to be able to dictate e-mails, messages, and notes.

Just as I've told a close family friend, who is an officer at a larger investment bank and hedge fund, if you can talk into your iPhone or any other phone before, why can't you talk to it?  It would not look more awkward than people walking around with a Bluetooth headset, looking like they're talking to themselves.

Since I got the iPhone 4S, I've begun a conscious effort to use only on Siri but also dictation.  As a matter of fact, I think this is the first phase in what I think could be contact-less interaction with our technology, not just mobile devices.

So, if you've got an iPhone 4S, you really ought to take advantage of this new feature.  And if you don't have an iPhone 4S, and you have another iPhone version, iPad, or iPod touch, I suggest you download Dragon Dictation from Nuance from the iTunes store and start using it.

Don't let all the 4S folks like myself have all the fun.  Embrace the future!

Note:  Though not entirely confirmed, it's been suggested that Nuance's voice tech was licensed by Apple and has been very much a part of iOS 5.  It certainly was a part of Siri when Apple bought Siri.

Rumormongers Now Chastised Apple for Not Meeting Wall Street Expectations

By all accounts, those that sanity still, Apple had a phenomenal financial quarter. Apple had over $28 billion in revenue, more iPhones sells any Yuriko, 11 million iPads so, handheld rector sale of nearly 4.9 million Macs.

Dad revenue $3 billion more than a $25 billion that Apple had guided analysts last quarter. However, I was not enough for Wall Street analysts. They went crazy and expected more than $29 billion. In fact, Forbes, well look loggers and they expected $33 billion in revenue.

That is to be expected from these people. There's nothing Apple, fans, or anyone else can do. Wall Street analysts have for years, quarter after quarters, fail to really understand what Apple is all about. And now, the same Wall Street analysts have failed again.

But let's move on. Let's move onto the publications who had been trading in rumors as click baits. Publications like the Wall Street Journal, who have continuously used unnamed sources, to help sell newspapers about Apple plans. Seriously can anyone outside of Apple really know what is to come next?

The same publications, the rumormongers, were also disappointed when Apple did not fulfill their rumors. In fact, Apple made them all look foolish. Apple made all these publications look like liars. Apple made all these publications look as if they went and made up stories.

And yell, some of these publications are you trying to get their revenge. Let's take the Wall Street Journal can. Now they are riding fine about how Apple has lost its magic.

Hey, Wall Street Journal. Why do you think Apple fail to meet expectation.? Let's look at the real reason. You spread all these rumors about when Apple was supposed to come out the new iPhone. You, the Wall Street Journal, also told people what the specs are and when the iPhone 5
is supposed to come out.

Of course, we all know by now that there is no iPhone 5. And I know I'm picking on Wall Street Journal but the practically all but a handful of bloggers on Internet have all made this great mistake. They are trafficking rumors, they all printed each other's rumors, and they speculated as if they were facts and when none of these things happen it were collectively disappointed. These same bloggers and publications also speculated when the next iPhone will be released. They range from August all the way through the end of September.

That is a full 6 to 8 weeks a potential buyers who could've bought the iPhone 4 but held off thinking that an update was just around the corner.

So Wall Street, there is your missing 4 million iPhones. Apple could've easily been your expectation but you try to play both side of the story. You spread rumors, stopped iPhone sales on their track, and still expect Apple to perform well.

And you know what? Apple performed well. Apple performed admirably. Record sales. More than $80 billion in the bank.

So, screw you Wall Street! Screw you, DigiTimes! Screw you, Wall Street Journal!

Note: to my readers, you noticed that I had not provided links to any of these publications I mentioned or to any other blogs that had talked about rumors but were disappointed when their rumors did not pan out. There is no point in doing it because they were wrong. If I had done it I would be perpetuating false information.