AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

Here is a reference post from Appleinsider that is worth looking at on the new and improved Spotlight that comes with OS X 10.10, Yosemite.  I've been using it since it came out last week and I'm loving how fast and powerful it is. In fact, it kinda made me wonder how inefficient I was before. Calculator, currency conversions, movie times, and search results as well as easy to understand privacy settings for us paranoid folks.  All done the Apple way which means everything is presented beautifully and easy to use. I would love to see this translate over the iOS, particularly on the iPad. What would really make take Spotlight up another level is for Apple to merge Siri with Spotlight on the Mac soon.  What are missing are results likesports scores, weather, and other inquires that we don't quite need to go to the search engines to find. And yes, while some of the search results do come from search engines, Apple is slowly peeling away the layers of search one...

Source:   Macrumors . iFixit does a teardown of pretty much every Apple hardware that comes out.  And what they found surprised them but it makes sense for Apple to include it?  NFC in the new iPad Air 2. Consider the importance of Apple Pay as a money printing scheme to pad Apple's Everest-like pile of cash, the iPad Air 2 and probably a future updated iPad mini sporting NFC makes it very important as a means for the tablets to serve as digital payment readers. Consider this.  You're at a restaurant and the server comes and takes down your order with the iPad.  Then at the end of the mean, the server comes back and makes contact with your iPhone for you to make your payment. No need for them to take your phone to the back for them to do God knows what with it like they do now the credit card.  And they can't anyway.  And it would be cumbersome for you to have to go to their register to make the payment. The only thing that matters now is whe...

I like that I can use Apple Pay because of the added security.  Let's just say the temptation for extracurricular activities with customer credit card information won't be there if the tokenized numbers can only be used once.  So, I'm more than happy to go out of my way (within reason) to use Apple Pay.  So, finding out today that pizzas won't be on the menu for lunch today because the major pizza chains, Pizza Hut, Dominos, Papa Johns all do not accept Apple Pay.  In fact, forget that not only are they not official Apple partners, it does not appear any of their cash registers accept NFC payments at all.  At least not the ones I frequent.  Moreover, Pizza Hut does not think much about Apple Pay at all and even has "concerns" about it.  The "concern" happens to be that Apple Pay only works for apps and not the larger Web in general - meaning you cannot use it through an old-fashion browser.  It's a good point but it can hardly be called a concern...

There is a growing number of posts and tweets that Rite Aid as turned off a feature that allow Apple Pay to go through after initial tests on Monday demonstrated that Apple Pay works there.  No official reason has been provided but some suggests that this is because Rite Aid is support a rival payment system that probably give companies that back it, Rite Aid, Walmart, Best Buy, and others, more control over customer data and not having to share a small cut with credit card and banks. Here's the thing.  There is a CVS right by my house.  Oh, a Walgreen too.  And where I jog, there are other places where  I know accept Apple Pay.  So, what do I if I've just got my iPhone 6 Plus with me and not my wallet (I usually carry $20 with me for emergencies when I'm walking about in my neighborhood) and I need a cold drink?  Not Rite Aid I can tell you that.  This is what I predict will happen in the next six months. Some Apple Pay (maybe Google Wallet) hold...

While everyone is talking about HBO versus Netflix (not as much as I thought), the bigger battle is between CBS's new service verus Hulu. Hulu has been around 2007. It's a join venture between Disney, NBC, and Fox to pull together various current season TV series, some older series, and an assortment of movies not really worth watching. The thing with Hulu is that many of the shows are also available on these three major broadacast stations, ABC, FOX, and NBC. Hulu provides a centralized hub for these videos and others. Years ago, the blog chatters have been between Hulu and Netflix but they really target different markets with Netflix offering no current season videos but a vast library of older content, and a growing library of its own original series and movies. With CBS now offering own CBS All Access for $5.99, the question we have to ask if its worth it? The short and quick answer is absolutely not. While it does offer many if its own content, it exclu...

There is a lot to talk about today after Apple unveiled new iPads, Mac mini, and a Retina Display iMac. Oh, Apple also updated the OS for the Mac and Apple Pay which will be available on Monday. We'll get more into that later. What's missing from the Apple event is just as important and worthy bringing up in a post or two. First, Apple said nothing about the iPod line. Not a word about the iPod touch which had not been upgraded near the end of 2012 with a minor update in June this year. I'm assuming that means we can forget about the rest of the iPod line as well. The other thing missing is Apple TV. There had been a lot of chatter that is indirectly related to Apple TV. The most recent is the news that Time Warner will be offering HBO as a standalone service at the start of 2015. That was quickly followed by CBS offering a $7 service that is immediately available (though I think it's pretty lame). Lastly, where was health and home related updates and accessories? The ...

Source: USA Today . No doubt by now, you know that HBO, a service of Time Warner, is only available with a cable or sat TV sub.  What you should know by now is that HBO will be offered as a standalone service san the cable baggage in 2015.  That means you'll probably pay a disproportionate amount for HBO to stream on your Apple TV, Chrome dongle, or Roku.  It means maybe pay anywhere from $15-20 for the service but you won't have to shell out $100 for a bunch of stuff you don't want to watch. A couple of things you'll want to note going foward: First, We can thank Netflix.  Yeah, without it, not only will we not get a bunch of back catalog of TV and movies for dirt cheap but also really get things moving along with respect to competition for your eye balls and wallet.  Second, look for other studios to monetize their services once HBO has established their presence on non-traditional platforms.  Looking for a comedy channel with just old Fr...