Articles for December 2011

The iPhone is a great gaming device. Whether one has a minute to kill waiting in a line or an hour on an airplane, there is always a game to play. Games range from quick and easy to use to hardcore.

A lot of games come and go, but the best games are the ones that stand the test of time on the iPhone. The top five games that stay on my iPhone are:

Smart-phones have been replacing point-n-shoots as the main camera for most people. The iPhone is the most popular smart-phone and has one of the best cameras. The camera is even more useful with the applcations in the App Store.

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The iPhone has been one of the hottest selling consumer devices in recent history. Apple has continued this trend with the iPhone 4S as more and more consumers are switching to Apple's iconic device.

There are many applications in the App Store and finding the best ones can be overwhelming for new users. There are tons of applications not worth buying, but there are also many that make the iPhone even more useful. The Top 5 must have applications for the iPhone are:

Many people have given up their point-n-shot cameras for the camera that is always with them, the iPhone. The iPhone has become the top camera on photo sharing sites like Flickr and Facebook.

Many developers have created their own camera applications to take full advantage of the iPhone camera. With so many camera applications in the App Store, it is hard to decide which ones are the best to buy. Are any of these really worth it or is the best one already on the iPhone?

In November 2011, Mozilla's arrangement with Google — to make Google the default search engine and home page when launching the open-source browser — came to an end. The relationship was renewed for another three years for an estimated couple hundred million dollars. The fact that Google still needs to (and is willing to) pay Mozilla for mind-share indicates three things about the "State of the Google" as we head into 2012:

Erik Schmidt, former CEO and now Chairman of Google, proudly announced that within 6 months, "We [Google] in the next six months plan to market a tablet of the highest quality." Translation can be found here from the Italian site Corriere.it.

On the surface it would appear that Google is going to compete with its recently acquired Motorola Mobility division, which also manufactures tablets that use Google's Android OS. In reality, the forthcoming product (along with Schmidt's initial announcement) should be viewed as nothing more than hype for Google's latest Android 4.5/5.0 tablet OS, due to hit the market in the June time frame.

The idea's a great one. Go to Apple's website after 9 PM, select an iPhone, carrier of choice, and reserve it for pickup the next day. Just one hiccup. It doesn't work.

 Google's biggest weakness has always been their user interface design. They may be good programmers, but they just can't design a decent interface. From Android to Gmail, the interfaces are blocky, plain and waste too much screen space.

Google has been revamping most of their web service interfaces lately and things have gone from bad to worse. Google's Reader takes up even more space than it did before. For those Mac users that agree, there are a few applications that can help.

The iPod accessory market is huge and very profitable. Most of the market is based on the docking connector or cable. Those docking stations were nice when it was an iPod. Now, as the iPhones replace iPods, that same connector is a pain because users do not want to leave their phone in one spot.

That is all changing with the release of AirPlay and Bluetooth 4.0. These two technologies will make manufacturers very happy, as users replace their old docking station setups with new wireless versions.

Netflix has been a huge streaming success story and has been the chief rival to Apple's so-called hobby, Apple TV. But everything may be about to change. According to Barrons report, Verizon is setting its sites on acquiring Netflix or perhaps even Coinstar (which owns the DVD RedBox rental kiosk business). Verizon acquiring either would be a boon for Apple, as the takeover would likely occur in the timeframe Apple launches its own HDTV with integrated offerings.

Analysts have been coming out of Cupertino lately, ratcheting up their iPhone sales figures. The Street predicts roughly 29 million iPhones will be sold for the quarter, while AT&T's CEO recently commented on seeing a record number of iPhone sales for the December quarter being highly likely.

Podcast Episode 67: Hick-up. The Three Guys (Mark, Karl and Werner) discuss Mac OS X 10.7.3 reveal drivers for possible update to Mac Pro line, Ivy Bridge processors for new MBA and MBPs, Quad Core CPUs for iPhone, 720p for iPhone, Windows 8, Microsoft's big, big problem, porting Office to iOS, Gene No Lines Munster claims sizes of new Apple TVs and HTC sales down 30%. All this and much, much more in Episode 67: Hick-up.

This is part 2 of a 2 part series on cloud service comparisons. Part I of Cloud Services Comparison >

SugarSync: SugarSync is a cloud service that competes well with Dropbox. Both services sync files between the cloud and multiple computers and devices. Unlike Dropbox, SugarSync can sync any folder or folders on a computer. Files can also be emailed to one’s SugarSync account, which comes in handy on mobile devices. 5GB of free space is included as a standard option, which fairs well compared to most other competitive offerings that start at only 2GB. SugarSync plans are also a little cheaper than the rest, however, SugarSync does have some issues. The service itself is pretty slow and it takes up more memory than Dropbox. The software is also more complicated to navigate and use. For iOS users, very few applications are setup to access SugarSync files. While SugarSync covers the basics, it just does not have enough advantages to replace Dropbox.

A cloud service is basically a hard drive in a data center that allows users to store their data or files on the Internet. These services are increasing in their popularity as developers create more useful features. Apple is one of those developers who has thrown their hat into the ring with iCloud.

Cloud based services are continuing to evolve at a rapid rate as new features are added and new players emerge. This article will look at some of the more popular cloud services and compare them with each other. The services include: iCloud, Dropbox, SugarSync, box, Amazon's Cloud Drive, Google's cloud services and LaCie's Wuala.

With the dust settling on Final Cut Pro X, with both its detractors and supporters alike, a recent report shed some light that 64-bit Final Cut Pro 8 was ready to roll, but the decision was made to leave it on the cutting room floor and break ties with traditional editing solutions and deliver a new direction. Apple's goal in Final Cut X was clear: Jobs philosophy to skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it is now, would rule the day.

A recent article by CIO.com titled, "Apple in the Enterprise: Breaking Microsoft's Grip", makes the keen observation that Microsoft is starting to lose their dominant grip in the corporate space. Apple's iPhone and iPad are breaching corporations the same way that Research In Motions Blackberry's did — through the Sales & Marketing Door. iPad's and iPhone's work well on most corporate networks, so it's been difficult for the IT department to prohibit the use of iOS devices within sales and marketing groups. The result has been an explosion of Apple's iOS devices being used in Microsoft's seemingly impenetrable fortress: corporate environments.

Nielson Reports issued shocking numbers yesterday: TV ownership is set to decline for the first time since 1970, which marks the first time since Nielson started tracking this data. An initial reaction would be to blame the economy for such a depressing year in television sales. However, get beyond the simple reasons for the decline and a different story emerges. And with that different story, Apple is set to enter a market that isn't in decline, but in transformation mode. Apple is once again skating to where the puck is going to be, not where it is.

Apple’s iCal has been greatly improved with the iCloud service. Users can now sync their To Do lists and calendars across multiple Macs and iOS devices for free. This simplifies and makes it easier to manage one’s life. Yet, iCal is slow at handling multiple calendars and To Do lists.

iCal makes adding non-default items to calendar events or To Do items difficult. One has to change the calendar or list after it has been created, which greatly slows down the process. This builds a big enough barrier to prevent iCal from being useful in everyday life, like grocery lists and tasks around the house. But here is a solution.