Google’s latest doodle allows those to (virtually) view the lunar eclipse… which is a decent substitute. However; no matter how advanced the technology, nothing (still) beats being able to experience / view the genuine article.
From the LA Times: http://lat.ms/mSvKLH
Want to know the most common iPhone pass codes? Yes; there’s an app for that too.
From e-Week: http://bit.ly/lzP1vM
With the continued wave of computer hacking in the news – one would hope that there are some people (among the unwashed masses as the saying goes) that are thinking, ‘what if all of this malicious activity were put to / focused on more upstanding purposes?’ Granted, that sounds idealistic but there’s always room for more idealism in the world – at any given time – (and the application thereof) in many people’s collective opinion.
Now back to reality: perhaps it is befitting that the non-official Android market in the PRC is host to a lot of bogus apps that are nothing more than hosts for viruses that unsuspecting end-users download to their handsets? Perhaps not? Whatever the case; apparently it is not that difficult to create and upload a Trojan within Google’s OS – which is certainly one of the downsides of being ‘open’ as it’s already a daily occurrence / negative reality and the enclosed article in all probability just might have accelerated the incidence of the aforementioned…
From PC Mag: http://bit.ly/l6awCl
IDC’s (re-released and rehashed) prediction of Windows’ ascent within the mobile (OS) space to the second spot (behind Android and ahead of Apple) is either: a) profoundly insightful (due to clairvoyance and/or simply being able to predict the future); and/or b) completely off and not even close to being plausible.
Whatever the end result; it’s still hard to see how anyone would want a Microsoft-based handset… whereas even coveting a Nokia handset (at this juncture) is in reality just not the case (but this is a bit less hard to fathom than what Redmond has their designs on)…
Long story short: a lot can change within this space (as evidenced by what Apple did just 4 short years ago now). And, A LOT is going to have to change for an alliance of two (also-ran) partners to overtake either Google and/or Apple.
From PC World: http://bit.ly/ilvE0O
Apple’s decision to deeply integrate Twitter into their latest OS might just come down to the simple fact that Microsoft went for Facebook. Alternatively, it could also be that Apple’s goal is to sell hardware (where they make roughly 90% of their revenue) and the firm wants any given end-user to have easy access (of course, within iTunes) to ideally distribute their digital content among / between more than one device (hint; hint: which in their purview of the world would be an offering from Apple.
Furthermore; Twitter (vs. Facebook) is much easier to integrate as an API whereas Facebook is more of a closed community (and, in reality it might also be the case that Apple believes that their ‘walled-garden’ approach IS the only one that matters… and, that they are going to allow / deal with).
From Beta News: http://bit.ly/klO4VW
Apple is notoriously famous for protecting their IP… so, why should it come as any surprise that a firm with the name, ‘iCloud’ would be any less as protective?
From Mobile Burn: http://bit.ly/mjI5o3
For those that pay attention; Apple is notorious for fiercely protecting their IP. Yet, when it comes to essentially ripping off an application developers’ (rejected) submission to their App Store, that is obviously another issue.
From the Register UK: http://bit.ly/l8p1SK
Let’s review: a) the firm has been blown past by their competition; b) they decide to pin their hopes on Microsoft (another former early default leader within this segment; c) their C.T.O. has just announced that he is going on ‘leave’ {read: there’s a very high-probability that he’s bailing due to his disagreement with point ‘b’} and; d) their C.E.O. goes on the record bashing the mobile phone revolution (e.g., the iPhone).
It is pretty obvious what’s going on here: Nokia got caught flat-footed and while at one-time they did do a brilliant job with marketing their phones (that in retrospect were a result of being an actual innovator once-upon-a-time) the market passed them by. Moreover, as they continued to sell lots of low-end handsets (predominately within developing economies) Apple introduced a smartphone game-changer (that one could argue was there’s for the taking akin to how Apple also introduced an MP3 player that was Sony’s market segment for the taking).
Conversely; upon closer examination, Samsung also got caught flat-footed (due to governmental protection and nationalism within S. Korea) as their smartphone (handsets) were once priced too high to justify buying (in their home market) until the iPhone was finally introduced (after already working successfully in 90 other nations). Yet; the major difference with this company is that they decided to counter this challenge by hitching their fortunes to Google’s Android OS.
Adding RIM to the mix; neither company has an OS – let alone anything really close to being able to compete with what Apple and/or Android-powered handsets offer currently. Leaving RIM aside for the moment; Nokia’s brilliant move was to link their future to Windows?! Name any consumer that’s clamoring for a Windows Phone 7… echoing silence ensues (no offence Redmond but it’s largely the truth…)
Nokia’s fault boils down to hubris; bureaucracy; a silo-mentality therein and the simple fact that they got beat by a more innovative; nimble and able to set the trend that they wanted to set competitor (who as did actually ‘revolutionize’ the market itself).
From Info Sync: http://bit.ly/muVeDI
From the BBC: http://bbc.in/l5322d
Apple’s iCloud announcement this week has obviously generated a lot of (media) attention. Nevertheless; for those who still like the option of having a choice for their handset / smartphone, Google is still in a very strong position.
Look at it this way –
Closed: Apple (and, for those that are still paying attention, RIM / Windows, etc.)
Open: Google (and, that’s essentially it!)
Granted, both options have up-and-downsides. However, it is clear that Apple drew another line in the sand regarding their focus on trying to attract a greater proportion of consumers to migrate to their OS (and, by extension, hardware) via iCloud.
Simply put: the choice is yours (okay; the industries too…)
From PD: http://bit.ly/lZdG4T
For countless end-users; the overwhelming majority are in all probability hopeful that Skype’s latest disruption is nothing serious. For Redmond; all bets are that they did not just pay the amount that they did for… well, a company that has consistently underperformed (and has more technical challenges than their due-diligence surely must have uncovered, right?)
Granted, that might sound a bit harsh but most people tolerate Skype because it is free more so than desire to use it because their signal quality is consistently high; their connections rarely drop and their calls always go through (which is anything but the truth).
From Venture Beat: http://bit.ly/mKEOQG
