Articles for September 2011

Apple is set to announce a new iPhone next week. With the announcement of a new iPhone, Apple should be releasing a new version of their mobile operating system, iOS 5 and the new cloud service, iCloud.

Apple is moving away from MobileMe and iDisk to iCloud, a new way to store files on the Internet. Yet, this new iCloud is still a service and requires a subscription to use if you want more than 5GB. For those who don't trust Apple or don't want another subscription, there are alternatives.

We T-GAAP-ers really appreciated your open letter of advertisement yesterday, showcasing the Samsung Galaxy S II and HTC Amaze. Errrrrt! We really appreciated your open letter, explaining why T-Mobile is having difficulties in obtaining the iPhone and what you are doing to ensure T-Mobile customers can order one as soon as possible, as it is clearly the smartphone of choice.

On October 4, 2011 the day of reckoning arrives — well, at least for Apple's smartphone competitors. October 4th is the day that Apple talks to us about iPhone 5 and also releases iOS 5 and iCloud.

While we expect the iPhone 5 to sport an über cool design, with new features we didn't know we needed until we see them, the power of iPhone 5 will be in the software it sports: iOS 5 and iCloud. This 1-2-3 punch is going to drive other phone manufacturers nuts. While they try and copy the hardware, they are totally dependent on Google – and perhaps some day Microsoft – to come up with something similar or something better (wishful thinking).

Podcast Episode 58: Sailing With Tim. The Three Guys explore what it will mean having Tim Cook as CEO. Who will make the big decisions, and will that person have the instinct of Steve Jobs? Much more in Espisode 58: Click here.

We would probably have served you better by posting this on Monday instead of, well, Friday... T-GAAP took an extended vacation this week. Why now?

The Mac App Store (MAS) lacked most of the valuable software when Apple first debuted it last January. At that time it was a poor place for users to find new software. Most of the apps on the MAS were of low quality, except for Apple's.

That has all changed in the past ten months, as more and more of the top developers are either moving completely to the MAS or are selling on both the MAS and in the tradition way. Pixelmator was the first major software to test the waters and it grossed over one million dollars. That's simply too much money for other developers to pass up.

Among the myriad of iPhone 5 mock-ups and spy-shots seen floating around the internet, coupled with a nearly daily dose of DigiTimes reports of component purchases here and there, when we boil it all down what are we left with? What kind of hardware will the iPhone 5 most likely sport?

To believe anything Eric "creepy line" Schmidt says must mean you're a Google employee, or a big proponent of Kool-Aid drinking. Schmidt was at it again, revising his unprovable feelings while on Apple's board, stating "I was on the Apple board until I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

Autumn has finally arrived in North America. While that means the college football seasons begins as well as school starts as well as cooler morning air bringing a change to the leaves, we Apple aficionados also know that means October is just around the corner.

October means a couple of things. First, a new fiscal year for Apple. We'll get to hear 4th quarter results and annual results in mid-October. This let's us know whether Apple is on track or has slipped somewhere. Second, it usually means new products of one sort or another.

 This week's "App of the Week" is Bejeweled, a game I play everyday on my iPhone. It is available on many platforms including the iOS, Mac and the Web.

On the iPhone, Bejeweled 2 has four different games: classic, action, endless, and blitz. Blitz is probably the most addicting of the four as scores can be compared with friends on Facebook. Blitz also only lasts 1 minute, so it can be played over and over anytime you have a minute to kill.

Is Oracle setting its acquisition sites on Dell? That's the idea posed by Seeking Alpha's Omega Investor. Before HP announced the divestment of their PC division, this would have seemed like a ridiclous notion, but not any more.

But would an Oracle acquisiton of Dell be fiscally possible? Dell's market cap sits at $26 billion, with $15 billion in cash. But Dell's numbers quickly wash away with a debt line of $92 billion. Oracle has a $136 billion market cap, with $28 billion in cash and $39 billion in debt. Financially, Oracle has the means to scoop up Dell should they choose to go that path.

This is the big one. The photo we've all been waiting for: A shot taken from an iPhone 5 camera!... Or is it? That's one question that has everyone sifting through pixels today. And while this photo may very well be a snapshot taken with an iPhone 5 prototype, the real genius is in Apple's marketing machine. The photo and it's associated data wasn't an accident, it was intentional.

With this singular image, Apple's put the entire smartphone industry on notice, and has the entire tech community in an absolute buzz over the image. But any engineer with an iPhone 5 prototype in-hand (working with the camera no less) knows exactly what data is tagged to photos, and what will be revealed through that data. At least for this round, there was no need to leak timely information to Apple's favorite journalist Yukari Iwatani Kane of the Wall Street Journal. This time, Apple found a clever way to begin it's pre–launch viral marketing campaign – a single photo. Brilliant.

First of all, I trust everyone had a Happy Labor Day. If you don't know why most don't work on the first Monday of September, it's worth a click and a quick read to learn.

Now, back to the subject at hand, how Apple finishes 2011 strong. FIrst of all don't expect much for the month of September in the form of product launches. September is the last month in Apple's fiscal caledar and historically Apple (like most other businesses) wait until the new quarter or new year to make such new product shipments. Whether Apple announces new product, such as the iPhone 5 in September, that's another matter. But for actual shipping product, October is going to be a very busy month.

Few people have used the Terminal application and even fewer understand it. The goal of this new series of articles at T-GAAP will teach Mac users to use the Terminal and its commands to change the way the Mac OS runs.

The Terminal gives users access to some pretty powerful tools inside the Mac OS. These tools allow you to get under the hood of the OS engine in a new way. The first article will give just a taste of the power inside the Terminal application.