AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

It's like 2015 is going to be remembered as the year when Apple set in motion for its in-house developed chips to replace Intel chips in Macs.  This started with Apple using a relatively underpowered, by today's standard, Intel chip in the new Macbook as the much anticipated iPad Pro wait in the wings to be introduced with an updated iOS 9 more suitable for power users.  And this iPad Pro will sport a brand new A-series chip with comparable computing power but a longer battery life than the Macbook. In fact, the iPad, since the very first iPad introduced by Steve Jobs, have a longer battery life than most of the Macbook variants including this 12" Macbook. One can assume, then, that Apple will allow this new Macbook battle it out on the market with the iPad Pro.  Let the users decide what works better for them.  A traditional laptop against tablet.  Also, this won't be just an iPad with a bigger screen and a more powerful chip. Apple will probably accessoriz...

There are no apps on the Apple TV other than those that Apple put there.  Video, music, podcast, and Netflix to name a few are the only ones there.  In fact, there are quite a few choices for users to select regardless of music, video, or live streaming media.  What is not there is an app store that many have been asking for or rumored about.  And to be frank, there may never be an app store for the Apple TV. Apple has so far been adding "windows", if you will, that allows the user to consume content without any actual interaction.  No social graph.  You can play games on your iPhone or iPad via Airplay, mostly through mirroring, hardly ideal. And let's face it, the currently Apple TV is good enough for streaming and Airplay, nothing more.  And until Apple updates the hardware on the Apple TV, we won't know what Apple may have planned.  And once Apple's own streaming video service is available, it might be all that Apple needs - more content. If a...

With HBO Go on board, Apple is on the verge of debuting its own TV service supposedly with around 25 channels for about $40.  This is as concrete as we are going to get given years of rumors and, frankly, disappointment. According to Wall Street Journal (via Cult of Mac ), Apple has lined up major networks like ABC, Fox, and CBS.  Considering how long it has taken and subscribers already with Sling TV as a choice at $20 a month and 14 channels, it might not be that great a deal.  And furthermore, from what we can tell, it's not "cord-cutter" friendly. A lot can still change between now and this year's Worldwide Developers Conference, supposedly when Apple will unveil the service.  However, if history is any indication, it's unlikely Apple will pick the WWDC for this unveiling as Apple tend to want to focus on iOS and OS X during the conference. If Apple does unveil its streaming TV service, it'll likely be in the fall when Apple updates iOS devices li...

Source:  Insider . Many of our icons, good and/or bad, have flaws.  They're people just like anyone else.  No one is perfect and public figures or anyone with a big ego and personality tends to have amplified flaws.  That is what makes them great and infamous at times.  This is the same for politicans, celebrities, and innovators like Steve Jobs.  Certainly, anyone who has hear of Jobs have heard a story or two that highlighted his character flaws. Now, a new documentary called "Steve Jobs:  Man In The Machine" ( IMDB ), it takes a look at Jobs' personal life and focused on specific events in his life that underscore what a selfish man and what a megalomaniac is he.  Admittedly, other films and documentaries only provided a passing glance at this side of the man and the many books about his seemed to want to rush through the early parts of his life, like how he treated his daughter Lisa and get to what the meat about his rise in Apple, his exile a...

Source:  New Scientist .This isn't really a tech or social media story that I normally like to share about Apple, Google, and others but the news that carbon dioxide emissions in 2014 was the same as the previous year is pretty significant.  And in some part, it has to do with alternative energy sources that came only despite a growing global economy. The only times this has happened were during economic slowdowns experienced in the early 80s, the recession of 1992, and the Great Recession in 2009. While researchers at Tyndall Institute for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK had expected a 2.3% increase in carbon emission, changing energy use and patterns should have alerted them to the possibility that carbon increase should slow dramatically.  As dirty as China is, renewable energy use is increasing in the Middle Kingdom while coal use is down.  Furthermore, tempered growth in China is also contributing to the carbon level in 20...

Much has been made about the iPad's diminish sales over the last year.  There is no denying that once of the last major products Steve Jobs introduced is not performing as well as most analysts and pundits believe it was to be.  Perhaps, there are even some at Apple that cannot see why the iPad isn't lighting the tablet market on fire or at least growing slowly.  It's the PC market that has shown life even as Mac sales continue to outperform. The problem for the iPad, and tablets in general, isn't that there is not a market for it.  Problem with a majority of users and in the media is the preception of what a tablet is for.  Instead of a multipurpose device with the potential as a laptop replacement, it's being looked upon as a device for media consumption - for business, education, and entertainment.  Consumption.  Not production of content.  If you wanna do that, you still need PCs for the most part.  The uses of tablets in my family and ...

It's been confirmed over the last year that tablet sales have been down.  So, does that mean PC sales are up?  Well, Mac sales are but the larger PC market is still stagnating.  Hence, Intel's warning.  So, what is exactly going on here?  What are the billions of people doing their computing on?  For the most part, people are holding on to their computers and tablets longer.  The upgrade cycle has become longer largely because today's computers and tablets are so powerful.  While Microsoft struggles to stimulate demand for next version of Windows, Windows 10, it certainly has not help with the computer buying cycle. When Intel warned that its outlook was not as rosy as stated, an interesting thing happened.  Microsoft and other tech companies associated with the PC market lost value while other tech giants like Apple and Google rose.  It spoke volumes about where the future is headed when Microsoft manages to stem the the PC market from ...