AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Not great news for Nokia or RIM fans. First, Nokia's Lumia sales has dropped off the cliff.  Now, we can attribute that to pinned up Windows Phone 8 demand.  I'll buy that but I cannot think that there is much room in the market that Nokia can pick up from the iPhone and Android. Then there's Blackberry users who are reportedly being shamed by iPhone and Android users.  I don't get why.  Sure, RIM sales are dismal and may never recover even with the release of Blackberry OS 10.  However, who else on the market still market and sell devices with physical keyboards en mass?  I think it's an unique experience in a mobile market dominated by full-touch screened devices like the iPhone. Back to Nokia.  It's continuing fall isn't a bad thing unless you're a Nokia fan.  If you're a Windows Phone fan, it could be that good days are coming.  Yes, above, I said Nokia may not have much room to move above but it doesn't mean that Windows Phone cann...

I like to see Apple price the iPad mini at $200.  Of course, it doesn’t mean that Apple will do it.  If it has cause and it can do so without sacrificing the margin (which seems rather unlikely), then I am sure Tim Cook will do it.  But that’s not why I’m writing this post. I want to get into see how Apple “can” find a way to price the iPad mini with 8 GB storage at $200 and really make Christmas for Amazon, Google, or anyone else in the tablet realm a really, really bad one to remember. First, there is the massive supply chain that Apple has built up over the years.  And it’s not just parts that Apple has sourced and hogged so that others have to wait until it has had its fill before they get their own turn.  It’s also about how Apple has depressed the cost of components that allow it to price the iPad at $500 when it was introduced in 2010 and not at $1,000.  And it’s been a couple years since the original iPad debut.  So costs has come down qui...

Source:   Venturebeat . Here's an adorable robot that you can fall in love with just as you do with your pets.  As soon as you support the Kickstarter program and it goes into production. Check it out. It's like a little rover with an iOS device as its brain, your iPhone or iPod touch.  I'm sure you've got plenty just sitting around from your recent iPhone 5 upgrade.  Stick that into Romo, that's the name of the robot, and off you go. You can control it with your iOS devices including the iPad or the Mac. This is the second coming of the Romo and its 10x smarter and better.  Well, that's what the company Romotive, folks behind Romo, promises.  Also, it'll have telepresence (which I'm sure means vid chat), navigates on its own, and facial recognition. Check out the video and then click over to pledge .  I've done it already!  Woohoo!

It seems that everyone has taken for granted that Apple will introduce the iPad mini, a name that should not be itched in stone since Apple has their own creative way of naming things (remember, Apple owns iSlate right?), on October 23rd.  So, it’s no longer a rumor.  It’s a fact now. The next couple of questions on everyone’s mind is how much and what can it do as in what specs will it have. Will it be at $250 or at a more Apple-esque $300?  And how about the screen?  Retina Display or will a smaller screen featuring 1024x728 be enough? There are a whole host of articles from bloggers to “professional” or “mainstream” media about this.  Each claiming to know what Apple is going to do.  I think it’s more important to focus on what Apple did not do in the past and what it ain’t gonna do. First, we can forget the $200 price.  $250?  That’s a bit hard to swallow because of where Apple is in terms of trying to protect and maintain its profit ma...

Source:   Computer World via MacDailyNews . Here’s a post about how Sharp, the maker of Apple’s iPhone 5 screens, showing off displays using the new IZGO technology.  They come in 7”, 10”, and 13”. What isn’t shown, obviously, is the often associated 7.85” screen that Apple is supposedly going to be using in their iPad mini units that will debut in a matter of weeks. And obviously, if there was such a size, Sharp would have been prevented by Apple from displaying and demoing them.  After all, despite so many leaks about the iPhone 5 and iPad mini parts, showing off the screen that Apple would use would be a little too obviously. Having said that, wouldn’t the 10” and 13” display be brilliant for the next iPad and Macbook Air respectively?  Just writing out loud here.

Source:   wired . Any time one of your features on your service or device doesn’t work as advertised, you as the company or employee should worry.  You have told folks that it works but it doesn’t in reality.  Here, a Wired post argues that RIM’s Blackberry missteps should worry Apple.  Definitely.  It is going to keep Tim Cook up at night? Let’s take a look at this.  Wired argue that today’s iPhone crowd is nothing like the Mac loyalists who stuck with Apple in the 90s even as it faltered through years of walking in the woods that only Steve Jobs himself (who did his own wondering through the forest) came and put Apple back on track. That is a valid argument.  Still, the iEcosystem has garnered enough goodwill that users could look beyond the Maps debacle and focus on the larger picture.  The sleek lightweight design along with many new just-works features in iOS 6.  And Siri has improved with new features and the ability to understan...

Source:   Wired . I like this idea a lot:  Apple and Yahoo should definitely hook up.  Maybe not an outright buyout because it simply is not in Apple’s DNA.  It was not in Steve Jobs’ DNA or it is something that Tim Cook and company would go for. However, Yahoo’s services and global reach is top notch and it has presence in places like China that its competitor Google does not.  And it would definitely bring a new dynamic into the whole mobile war thing.  On top of that, some Yahoo services could be rebranded to serve iCloud in ways that Apple has been unable to do. Obviously, Siri and voice is the future of search but there are still plenty that Yahoo can offer.  Perhaps, Apple is taking its targeted baby-steps in getting more services from Yahoo.  That’s fine but I definitely hope more is in stored. Yahoo definitely has a lot of content and can use the prestige of working with Apple to solidify place in mobile and rally its troops. ...