AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Source: Phone Arena Thing have really gotten bad for Blackberry. I'm the hopeful optimistic type so when I don't say this lightly. But I'm about to call it for Blackberry. It's over. I'm am sorry to say. I can't see Blackberry pulling a super magical rabbit out of a hat. At this point, it doesn't been have a hat to pull anything out of. There is a very, very slimmer of chance things can improve. Its Q10, a form factor that most Blackberry fans and most business users are familiar due to its physical keyboard, maybe stave off any Android and iPhone assault this fall and winter a bit. Even then, it's only a temporary measure at best. It's unlike Blackberry has what it takes to move beyond 2014 as an independent concern. Even now, Blackberry is having trouble keeping its head above water in its fight against Windows Phone for third place in the mobile market. Once a while back, Blackberry could rely on third world markets to gain in these markets but th...

We all know that Apple refreshed the new line of Macbook Airs for 2013 at Monday's WWDC keynote with amazing new processors along with much needed longer battery life.  The 11" Air battery life will go up to 9 hours while the 13" version will get up to 12 hours. However, we didn't get everything we wanted.  At least, I did.  That's Retina Display on the 11", or, for that matter, the 13".  Sure, we know that the integrated processor that comes with Intel CPU, while much improved, still are no where near the point where Apple is comfortable adding a Retina Display which would require more processing power while maintaining this level of battery life. However, there is one other reason.  Retina Display yield.  According to Macdailynews , Sharp has down off  11.6" displays with 2,560×1,440.  That is about double what we have now with the 11" Air resolution at .  Even if Apple wanted to sacrifice some battery life for the sake of adding a Reti...

Apple's WWDC keynote by Tim Cook and a few of  his executives is over with.  It was a big event.  I would call it a success only in the sense that Apple held serve: it shows it can innovate in some areas and keep updating OS X and iOS where there have been some shortcomings. We're still waiting to see if the folks there can get more some unique details about today's event because I do have a few questions about them.  For instance, with OS X Mavericks, which current Macs in the wild will be supported.  I've got a late-2010 11" Macbook Air and I'm hoping I'll get some love.  And if so, which features will be availabe? And while we learn today that iOS 7 will support up to iPhone 4, what features will be available to iPhone 4 and 4S users?  For instance, with iOS 6 last year, iPhone 4 users did not get live navigation or panorama feature in the camera app.  So, what features will be missing from iOS 7 for iPhone 4/4S?  And for that matter w...

Okay, I don't have pics but 9to5Mac has a few of them as Apple start putting up banners for their WWDC event next week.  And while every new iOS and OS X release is very important, this one stands out because of the pressure put upon Apple, Tim Cook in particular, by an out of control media and pundits with agendas (some are as benign as click-baiting). So, visit the site if you want to try to play armchair detective and discern from the details on the banners what Apple will have in store for us next week. However, I do want to mention one thing about OS X.  I've seen a few posts and listened to a couple of podcasts about which feline will Apple bestow upon by naming the next OS X version, 10.9, after. I think "Sabertooth" is rather awesome.  However, I think it's time for Tim Cook to change that and it's a grand opportunity.  It'll take Apple further away from the Steve Jobs era however symbolic it is.  It could also signal a dramatic shift in the...

Source:   TUAW . Facebook Apps At Root of iPhone Battery Problems – Wonder What Information it’s Gathering By using Apple’s iOS development tools, a developer in Germany found out the Facebook app is a major source of battery drain.  So chances are that if you’re a Facebook user on your iPhone, if you hold and tap the Home button and then disable the Facebook app from the multi-tasking panel, you should be able to solve this particular battery issue. The same can be said about Facebook’s dedicated messaging app as well. However, it goes to the issue of why Facebook apps are behaving radically different from other apps.  According to Apple’s rules, certain apps like Spotify that has audio and voice features are allowed to continue to work in the background.  Makes sense.  However, why does Facebook apps need to be working on the background, particularly the main Facebook app? It’s unlikely a major of users are using any of its audio or voice features...

Here's an  interesting Forbes take  on how Google Maps is also a social network but not on the traditional sense that Facebook, Twitter, or even Google+ is.  I see this taking place in a manner that should be very interesting in how companies, not just Google, interacts with its users. See, with more and more users on the move and the increasing in mobile consumption and computing, the traditional sense and take on maps has changed as is evident in how Google is positioning its maps app at Google I/O. Google and others like Facebook (maybe it'll come out with its own maps) will overlay more and more information based on the user preferences - places they've checked in, places where their friends/families have been to, recommendations based on user information, and, of course, ads. Of course, in the Forbes post, it made references to how Google has been forcing Google+ on users which its execs deny.  Of course, Google has been integrating Google+ with its servic...

Source:   The Loop . You know a guy is connected when he gets information directly from Apple in ways that not even the press can. Apple told Jim Dalrymple, not the AP, CNN, or Reuters, that it has sold 100 million iPod touches since its introduction in 2007. That's a lot of touches.  How much compared to other gaming devices? Nintendo's wildly successful Game Boy and Game Boy Color  (wiki) sold a combined 118.69 million units since its introduction in 1989 in Japan.  It took Nintendo 12 years for the GB to sell almost 120 million while .  It was eventually displaced by the Gameboy Advance in 2001 which went on to sell about 81.5 million units in in seven years.  Sony only managed to sell 76 million PSP  (wiki) units in eight years. For the iPod touch, Apple managed 100 million units in 5.5 years. As a mobile fan, I love the fact that Apple's iPod touch is finding this level of success.  However, where does Apple go from here? ...