AI, Mobile, and Eveything Around the Cloud

 Source: Barron's Via Apple News . My primary search engine is DuckDuckGo.  The second is Google.  I think that would be the same answer for most privacy conscious mobile warriors.  And with Apple playing a role in search, albeit a limited one with glacial pace of improvement, could Apple one day be a part of that conversation?   First, let's get this out of the day. Apple's search engine it is today is very limited in scope and it is not what I would called very good.  Decent?  At times.  Other times, it leave much to be desired.  Spolight on my Mac is fine but there are times I searched the same term and get different results or none at all.  On the iPhone or iPad, it is even worse even when I'm looking for apps.  It is as if search on the iOS and iPadOS took a step backward.  Where Apple search is beginning to shine is in the App Store and even that has its own critics. Still, it goes without saying that should Apple decide ...

Rumors are a double or even triple edge sword. I do not traffic in rumors about Apple unless I am very sure a product, service, or announcement is very certain.  While, I enjoy reading about them on a near daily basis, they are mostly just that, rumors.  A lot of rumors and supposed leaks, well, they are wishful thinkings by fans, misinterpretations of the facts on the grounds, and misrepresentations of Apple’s and its competitors’ intentions.   Rumors are not just for fans.  The effects of rumors and leaks are wide and impact buying decisions, development decisions, and, of course, financial matters as well.  If you are the CEO of a competing company and you just read that Apple is about the change up its iPhone lineup with a new feature, it would impact your own development to a certain extent.  And with Apple moving slowly into additional markets, anything about Apple on fan sites or Twitter is going to make waves in the media, boardrooms, and R&D la...

I like to move around while I'm at home watching television after dinner.  Work is back in the office 100% now and while I am trying to establish a workout routine in the morning, that is still a work in progress.  I do variety of workouts about an hour after dinner as I binge on Netflix or rewatch one of my favorite science fiction shows (comfort shows).  With the Apple Watch, it offers a lot more workout options than when it first started but there is not way for Apple to provide every kind of exercise. So, I set out to find out which of the workouts would suit my calories counts so I can reach my daily goals. One of the workout I like to do is the wacky jumps.  It is a lot like jumping jacks but different body movements and I feel it offers a good set of motions for what I want to achieve - essentially toning my body and my stomach muscles.  And it is good cardio that gets my heart pumping and some sweat. There is no wacky jump workout option and while there ...

Source: CryptoAge . Ever thought about using your brand now MacBook or Mac mini to earn a few extra bucks by using them to mine some cryptocurrencies?  For now, you can forget about it.  Leave that to crypto farms or others who have the know-how.  In fact, it's very likely that mining crypto is not on Apple's mind when it designs  future chips for the Mac or iPads.  The reason is that it has been tried and the M1 was only able to earn fourteen cents a day - that roughly comes out to $51.10 a year.  That will get you a medium latte a month for a year. To be fair, the M1 was not created for any intensive mining in mind.  It was created to run MacOS and iPadOS efficiently and with as little power as possible.  In terms of efficiency, Apple first laptop chip has ran rings around offerings from AMD and Intel.  For crypto mining, it takes a different type of computing on all its own. Graphic processing units specializes in mathematical computing th...

My last feature phone was a Sony flip phone.  It was light and had decent Internet features for 3G connectivity and even lets me add books via text files so I did actually read a couple of classics on the go.  But it could not do was a lot of what my Apple Watch with cellular connection can do like iMessages, monitor my sleep/health/workouts, and listen to podcasts/music. In a way, I think Apple has created a perfect smart feature phone that just sits on the wrist. My epiphany of Apple Watch is a smart feature phone just so happened over the weekend when I left my iPhone at work and I did not want to go back to the office. After all, I do have my iPad mini when I needed to play games, writing, and some some work.  Oh, and I have my MacBook as well.  When I went out this weekend, it was only me and my watch. This is how the Apple Watch came in handy: Messaging. Short chats with my brother and a couple of friends.   Tried to view photos sent to me.  It's not ...

 Source:   Appleinsider , Macworld . Do you compare yourself to others or just your previous self?  I'm not a fan of the former but I am fine with comparing myself harshly but fairly against myself a week ago, a month, ago, a year, ago, and even five years ago.  And sure, once in a while, I'll question what I am doing and how I am doing compared to others in similar positions.  I still favor self comparisons and evaluations. So, when Apple's latest M1 chip currently powering its lower end MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and 2021 iPad Pro was released late 2020, there were benchmarks after benchmarks that compared Intel-based MacBooks and Windows laptops against the M1 Macs.  And Apple was the clear winner in many if not most of the tests. However, time for those comparisons are over and we should be focusing on the next chip from Apple and how they match up to the M1.  It'll be faster, running cooler, and maybe even smaller but how will it compare to the M1?...

 As someone who can easily fall asleep, I do not have an understanding of people who have difficulty falling asleep are unable to get a good night’s sleep.  I was not always like this.  When I was young, falling asleep did not come easy for me.  Now that Apple Watch has had sleep tracking since WatchOS 7, it is perhaps one of the most undervalued features that I think most users ignore.  On weekends, I do like to nap and maybe it is a feature Apple should add in future OS upgrades. As I said above, sleeping comes easy for me.  I keep pretty much alert as anyone else during the day.  I prep for bed around 10 and hit the pillow by 11.  I set my watch to wake up around 6 AM but I tend to get up around 4:30.  It’s not a full 7-8 hours of sleep.  During COVID, I did not sleep longer because I do not save time commuting since my work is within a 10 minute walk. As you can see here, my sleep is quite consistent.  Oh yeah, the Apple Watch m...