Articles for July 2011

Karl Johnson opens his new MacBook air - on air. Mark's wedding anniversary? Lion, Apple stores in China and much more. 

Episode 55: 1997

Microsoft recently released an upgrade to their WIndows Mobile Phone Line: Windows Mobile Phone 7.5 —codenamed 'Mango'. Besides another lame codename by Microsoft (Longhorn, Mojave and Birch to name a few), Windows Mobile 7.5 is aiming to relaunch Microsoft's dominance in the mobile phone space... Sounds like something from Microsoft's Redundancy Department.

But is this enough to catch iPhone or Android? Moreover, is it too late?

 By using up to 30% of the Internet's Bandwidth, Netflix has become the place to watch movies and TV shows online. They have the largest movie catalog available online with the best prices. Yet, is Netflix opening the door to defeat?

In the past when users subscribed to Netflix, they would get 1,2, or 3 DVDs at a time with unlimited online movies and videos. Recently, Netflix announced new subscriber plans that essentially broke up their two main services. The change has caused a major backlash from its users, as it greatly increases the monthly subscription price. Will Netflix be able to weather the storm, or is this the beginning of the end for them?

How many times have I heard the statement "If only AAPL were such and such a price, I would have invested... But it's too high now, so I can't." Spare me the details, it's an old and tried diatribe I've been hearing for the past 10+ years. If you are an individual stock investor, invest in the tech industry and have never purchased a lick of Apple, what's been holding you back from investing in Apple, Inc.?

On January 21, 2000, Apple stock took a 2:1 split, trading at $26 per share. Steve Jobs had rebuilt the company's financials, slashed business units and simplified the product line, delivering a focused Think Different campaign. If you were too young at the time or didn't yet understand that Steve Jobs had a successful vision for company, I can grant one mulligan. But for you investors, beyond that point there is simply no excuse.

OS X Lion is here! And it arrived on my birthday (a great birthday present I think). Normally my OS upgrade strategy is to wait a week or two before installing to watch and see if there are any horror stories that might come my way. But being my birthday, I splured and took the plung at around 6:00pm Pacific Time this evening.

 This article marks the start of a new series here at T-GAAP. Each week I will highlight a new or updated application for either the Mac or iOS.

This week I will be highlighting an education application for the iPad called Math Bingo. Both of my kids are in early elementary school and are working to improve their skills. I was unsure about the application at first, but it was only $.99, so it was an easy decision to give it a try.

Back on June 30th we reported a source in the SF Bay Area had informed us that Mac OS X 10.7 Lion would be released on July 6th. The reasons for the launch date made sense so we posted it but with a big "RUMOR" in front of the article. July 6th came and went. No OS X Lion.

The next day 9to5 Mac had information stating it was their sources claimed July 14th for the release date. July 14th came and went. No OS X Lion. Now we read the 15th and the 19th, maybe the 22nd, how about the 31st? What's going on here? How has Apple kept the launch date of OS X Lion so secretive?

It wasn't all that long ago when iOS was pretty much the standard mobile app development environment. But then along came Android, which took off like wildfire, as handset manufacturers were desperate for a challenger to iPhone. Android stormed the mobile castle, while RIM and Nokia have all but lowered the drawbridge in a series of missteps. As a result, iOS and Android have pretty much locked up the mobile development community, but there are more players in the offing.

Come with me for a moment into my world. One of the hats I wear is being a salesman, and along with that, making presentations. Sometimes those presentations happen in the familiar surroundings of our office. This is where I have “home court advantage” — where everything is comfortable: I use our projector, access our wi-fi network, control the mood with our lighting,... everything is pretty much under my control.

However, that is not the case when I'm at a customer site. I have to show up early to see if I'll use my projector or someone else's. I need to find a wi-fi connection and then whether I can access it. FInally I can't  run through the presentation in case someone else is in the room watching — it'll ruin any “surprise” I've put together. Presenting at a client's site can be a big pain. I've also noticed many companies now have HDTV's in their conference rooms. This is where Apple could really take a giant leap forward and make AppleTV a salesman’s best friend.

Mark your calendar. Today is the day Verizon ends unlimited data plans, putting a nail in the coffin of all-things all-the-time mobile. Eventually all carriers will follow this model as they are all addicted to charge-per-minute plans, so why not charge per bit downloaded, so their thinking goes.

Governing minutes or data, it is the way pipe providers, and unlimited plans are completely counter to their business soul. But ending unlimited plans on AT&T, and now Verizon, it's an Omen of things to come from every data provider, mobile or not. The capping of data is rapidly extending into homes via cable and fiber internet providers. This shouldn't shock anyone. All of these players were spawned from the world of telecommunications, thus the game is the same across the board. How they can extract every cent from our wallets will seemingly never end. However, there is one white knight that has the cash and cajones to change the game – Apple.

Apple's Mac OS X Lion is due to be released this month and boasts a new feature called Launch Pad. Launch Pad is nothing new to iOS users, as it is the best of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch — now coming to the desktop.

Where Launch Pad is a big win for desktop users is a sheer numbers game. In addition, its organizational abilities run circles around the now antiquated Dock.  

iPods can be used for more than just listening to music. Podcasts are a way to download and listen to regularly produced audio content while on the go. Listening to books also provides another great way to use iPods and iPhones.

One place to purchase Audiobooks is from the iTunes store. The second option is from Audible. Audible, which was purchased by Amazon, sells individual books and subscriptions to several types of audio content. Is purchasing Audiobooks from Audible better than iTunes?

It's 4 am and I'm packing up, leaving the hotel to catch my flight. Getting back to LAX is a snap, and returning the rental car goes off without a hitch. A second security checkpoint is opened to speed the check-in process, making for a relatively uneventful journey to the gate.

At this point I'm looking around to find the nearest caffeine injection center when I get my first laugh of the day. Large portrait LCD's are positioned within the terminals, running an ad stating "Amateur Hour Is Over" showcasing the Blackberry Playbook. I'm not sure if I laughed out loud, but if I did it was certainly justified. I came away with four possible reactions to the ad, none of which bode well for RIM or their ill-fated Playbook: