AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Today's jobs report was subpar and had the stock market been opened today, I'm sure there would have been a three-digit sell-off on the DOW.  Still, today's economy,while still in a slow recovery mode, is off life-support from when it was in 2008.  Apple was still under Steve Jobs and he vowed that Apple would innovate its way out of the recession.  No doubt Tim Cook would do the same.   Should we go through another slowdown (very likely due to EU contagion), Apple's stock could be just as safe as US bonds.  Demand for Apple products are still strong.  So strong in fact that Apple is building a second Rome store in Italy, an EU country is could be counted as one of the likely to default.   This isn't a stock post for Apple's finances.  Rather, we are wondering what it is about Apple products that make them so sought after even during the Great Recession and continues to sell in record amounts.   What do you think Apple seems to...

First let me see I’m an Apple fan.  I would not go to the point of labeling myself a fanboy because I don’t get everything that is Apple. I like to have a good balance of Apple branded and non-Apple branded tech.  Over all, I’m just a mobile fan.  So, I say this next thing because it needs to be said. Apple, you have to do more about security for the Mac.  Lately, there have been rumors cropping up about Trojan horses that have infected at least half a million Macs (luckily, my Macs are fine, as are my PCs).  In the past, I would have dismissed such talks as fear mongering by anti-virus app sellers that want to expand their reach into the Mac market.  For the most part, it’s the PCs that needed protection in the past and Mac users have largely require very little protection from viruses and other malware. That was in the past.  Today, Macs are flourishing in the PC market and it’s a larger and more tempting target for hackers. In the most recent...

T-Mobile still doesn’t have the iPhone even as Apple adds 5 regional carriers that will start providing Apple’s iconic mobile device to their subscribers.  I know that the reason has more to do with the technical GSM deployment rather than Apple simply unwilling to make this happen.  Or maybe T-Mobile simply did not give Apple enough financial incentive to make iPhones that will take advantage of T-Mobile’s 3G network.  For speculation sake, let’s suppose there is another reason why Apple has yet to make the iPhone available on T-Mobile’s network. Apple wants to show carriers what happens when they don’t deal with Apple on its terms when it comes to the iPhone.  With And T-Mobile, already kinda dying when AT&T tried to merge with it, Apple decided it would not harm its bottom line if it used T-Mobile as an example to any carrier that decides to cross it.  How else can you explain why regional guys with as little as 400K subscribers getting the iPhone ah...

I'm from UCLA and I hate USC.  With a passion.  I dislike everything about them.  Particularly how they cheat in sports.  And we are a better school.  Obviously, this is the duty of every Bruin just as it is the duty of every Trojan to show disdain for all that is Westwood.  At the end of the day, we're all Americans and it's mostly in good fun. I have seen this behavior with fanboys from Apple, Google, Microsoft, and RIM.  This is particularly true when it comes to the blogging community.  Some of it are in good fun but mostly, it's not.  It reminds me very much of the GOP versus Democrats.  However, I did not expect this bantering to extend to regular mobile warriors. And this is especially evident in the harsh treatment of iOS users against Android users over the Instagram app. Seriously, some of the comments are just down right nasty (and funny). I'll leave to them to you over at  Cult of Mac  and  Pha...

Source:   iMore . Apparently, a hair-cut more than a third of US high school students have the iPhones.  That's an astonishing high number.  Apple only recently reached 30% of installed base in the US after the release of the iPhone 4S. There are a couple of comments worth mention. Could something be wrong with this?  Here's why I believe so.  iPhones are pretty expensive and so are the plans.  I can't do the 200 MB of data per month.  I don't know how these kids are doing it.  If this is true, they've learned a great deal about self-control. Now, if the information is correct, I reckon it's the apps that are attractive to the students.  After all, app discovery is a pretty important part and so far, Apple does have an advantage here over competing platforms.  Google Play just came out but when it comes to discovering social apps or ones they can use for schools, the students could have a better time finding what they need. The...

We previously discussed how Sprint would take us to an LTE world , virtually assuring that the next iPhone would have to have LTE and then we discussed how Apple would get there given that LTE chips are so power hungry.  What I did not anticipate was just how important LTE is until a bunch of Wall Street guys started pricing Apple at $1000 or so a share and calling it a trillion-dollar company. Why?  LTE. Crazy?  I guess.  As of this moment, Apple is priced at around $630 with a market value of $580 billion.  And I suppose given how strongly the iPhone is perform against WiMax and LTE devices, with a major of smartphone sales at AT&T and Sprint being iPhones and about 50% of all Verizon Wireless sales, it definitely would be scary when Apple puts LTE on the iconic device. Scary for competitors that is.  And who knows just what other new features Apple will offer. In the past, I've blasted Wall Street guys for being clueless and spreading rumors...

I set up a Slingbox for my uncle last night.  He’s an avid NBA and golfing fan.  We got an Apple TV hooked up to it and he’s able to use the SB to watch his videos and cable TV from anywhere.  Just about anywhere I hope because he travels a lot on business, especially, overseas.  He’s pretty happy about this.  He can keep with his golf games as well.  I know he’s big on cable news too.  All in all, the Slingbox is an incredible device.  I’ve wanted something like this since, well, forever. But the Slingbox can only do so much.  It doesn't do more than offering an extension and convenience to whatever HDTV or other box setups you've got in your home.  And as great as it is, the Slingbox is last decade's innovation.  It's time for something new. Now, I don’t know what people are talking about when they said that Steve Jobs cracked television when it came to digital and cloud deployment.  Most think it has something to do wit...