Articles tagged iPhone.

Outside of the “i” nomenclature which Apple tags virtually every product, Apple is not a company that subscribes to any form of dogma. Adopting smaller 3.5" floppy drives, pushing USB ports over serial, or flipping an entire video industry on its head with a new software philsopy — it makes no difference. There are simply no sacred cows at Apple, and that's what keeps Apple relevant, inventive, and leaves the rest of the industry playing constant catch up.

Will Apple continue its path to reveal an iPhone 5 that delivers monumental hardware changes over previous versions? iOS and iCloud are so closely integrated, virtually all functionally will run wirelessly once the latest software rollout arrives in September. iTunes, photos, backup, syncing, apps, iOS updates, it's all wireless. The only item remaining requiring phycial connectivity is power. But even connection for power appears on its way out.

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.

The latest numbers by Charlie Wolf of Needham & Associates indicates that Android's market share is flattening out, and/or perhaps poised to fall over the coming quarters, due to increased competition from the likes of Apple and other forthcoming competition.  Wolf's assertions also fall in line with NPD's latest market share reports, adding further fuel to the fire that Android is getting the squeeze. 

Today, Google's Andy Rubin Tweeted that Android is seeing an average of 500,000 activations per day. First of all, what exactly does Google consider an activation? Is an Android activation an LG refrigerator with Android built-in for touch-screen control? Is an Android activation millions of China Mobile smart phones that have a core Android OS in them, but everything else Google stripped out of them?

First there was the Pony Express, then the telegraph and then the telephone. As time marches on man seems to find a better, cheaper and quicker way to communicate.

It is no different in the 21st Century. Today we have rss feeds, twitter, facebook, e-mail and the beloved "mobile phone" But wait, there's more. Mobile phones have now morphed into mini computers with Apple's iOS, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Mobile 7 platforms. In this new war of the mobile device, it appears Microsoft is bringing up the rear with no real chance of catching Apple or Google. Microsoft has lot's of money to stay in the game, but if things stay the same, they are the odds on favorite to being the big looser. And that's exactly why Microsoft may have purchase Skype.

According to a report by All Things D, Apple's iPhone is now the best selling smartphone for Verizon and AT&T.

To that we say a big, collective, DUH! Add in the revelation that T-Mobile (a non-authorized iPhone carrier) now admits they have over one million unlocked iPhones on their network!

A long time ago I had the opportunity to accompany a friend to an Alcohol Anonymous meeting. It was a very sobering experience (pun intended). The building was old and the room looked like a beat up classroom. Light from outside peeked through the curtain drawn windows and smoke filled the air (this was way before any indoor smoking laws had hit the books).

I learned a lot that day. I learned that if not careful, anyone can slip into addictive, self-destructive behaviors. I learned the power of a support group and accountability. I also learned most of the people in the room were seemingly addicted to something else in place of alcohol. The smoke filled room was one clue. Another was "Bill" who needed to go from one support group to the next in order to stay sober. You may be asking, what does this all this have to do with Apple?

Scott Moritz of The Street, believes the next generation iPhone is delayed, which may result in sales losses to Android-based 4G LTE smartphones. Moritz builds his thinking upon an analyst who is claims to have inside information on the forthcoming iPhone.

How a product can be "delayed" when a company has never given a launch date it could be delayed from is logically impossible, but we all understand how this works, right? First, the rumor mill builds some mythical launch date for an Apple product, then rumors and analysts claim a different date, thus the launch of the product is late. Brilliantly ridiculous.

Cnet's Scott Stein comes up with five creative areas where he'd like to see Thunderbolt deployed. Scott has some creative – and some not so creative – ideas:

• External Storage
• Monitors
• Cameras
• External GPUs
• iPhones, iPads and iPods

Hmmmm... We take a quick look at each area to see what makes sense.

Part I can be seen here. Part II continues with market share assumptions and the fallacies they advance.

iOS vs Android: The Market Share War That Is

Analysts and tech media alike have one central theme correctly identified. Apple and Google are in a heated market–share war, but declaring any victor in today's battle would be pure folly. Yet Henry Blodget advances his position that Android is now the victor and iOS is dead. Blodget flashes around Nielsen's latest purchasing intent survey as proof positive. I also recall a survey claiming nearly 54% of all Verizon customers would turn in their Blackberry's and Android's for iPhone 4 on day one of it's launch.

In business there are times when opportunity knocks and you had better be ready to answer the door. Is your hair combed, your shirt tucked in, does your breath smell good? Because on the other side is royalty, and it's called "opportunity".

Google had such a knock on their door in 2009 when Apple decided to enter into a third year of exclusively with AT&T. On the other hand, Google was working with several handset makers across the other three major US carriers delivering the Android OS. While Android wasn't yet mature and its feature set somewhat lacking, Mr. Opportunity knocking at Google's door. But did Google answer?

Some say the iPad does not need a file structure application like Finder on the Mac. That may be fine for content consumption, but not for content creation. Those that want to use the iPad as a productivity device will want to have a finder like application. Storing files in the application and syncing through iTunes is horribly slow and cumbersome at best.

Accessing stored files is a must to create content or be productive. If only one device is used, those files can easily be stored on that computer or device. A problem arises when someone starts to use more than one device. Making sure files are up-to-date on every device or computer can become a headache. This headache can be solved by using Dropbox.

Apple's rollout of iOS 4.3 a few weeks ago seemed like a ho-hum, second-fiddle announcement compared to the launch of iPad 2. While we all welcome updates to operating system software — well, those updates that improve our lives — iOS 4.3 was pretty much a yawner...

...until I started using Personal Hotspots.

The iPhone and iPod touch have proved to be stiff competition for Sony and other hand-held game console makers. While standard handheld game consoles are supposed to be better at gaming, the iPod touch and iPhone can do so much more than just games. This has led to a majority of non-hardcore gamers switching to the iPod Touch or iPhone. The iPad is adding to this trend for those who want a bigger screen.

With the launch of the iPad 2, Apple added the ability to mirror the iPad's screen on a TV with a HDMI output option, which allows the iPad to compete with traditional game consoles. iPad games can now be viewed on a HDTV at 1080p, instead of looking over someone's shoulder. This changes the iPad from a personal gaming device to becoming the social gaming console.

The clock struck midnight and February 10, 2011 was born, but apparently no lines materialized at Verizon retailers. Why?

We heard a lot of hoopla surrounding the supposed "event everyone has been waiting for." Verizon made a special commercial with clocks just about to strike midnight and people in anticipation of being able to get an iPhone on the Verizon network. Jon Stewart was exuberant, claiming "a spring in my step... a certain twinkle in my eye" about the iPhone Verizon announcement. Apple even made the "Twins" commercial showing an iPhone on an AT&T and Verizon network simultaneously. So where are all the Verizon iPhone customers?

If you're like me, you have an iPhone and you like it. I started with an iPhone 3G back in the day and recently upgraded to the iPhone 4. It's a great phone. It's a great mobile device. It's just great.

Each weekday I spend anywhere from 60-90 minutes in my car driving to and from the office. I have a handy Kenningston cradle that holds my iPhone 4 front and center while I drive. I use the Jawbone ICON (Thinker) to take incoming calls. It's a driver's perfect world... almost. What can cause frustration is an incoming text message or the "bing" of an incoming e-mail. Currently there is no good way to process and respond to a text message or read an e-mail while speeding along at 60+ mph. There are some that can use one hand to drive and one hand to navigate their iPhone. While I might be able to do that, I'm not willing to press my luck by taking my eyes off the road for more than a second, let alone read while driving.

Apple's announcement to end production and sales of XServes on January 31, 2011 was a sad day for many Apple IT professionals. To read about the frustration it brings to the Mac community you need to look no further than Apple's own discussion forum on the topic.

One person in the forum said, "This is so unlike Apple, pulling the rug out on us - it's more like a MS move, sounds like they're slipping." Another lamented, "This is horrible news for any ACN out there. We fight tooth and nail to convince business and enterprise that Apple is a valid contender. How OSX Server is "real UNIX' and how Apple servers are more cost effective for licensing and support... To then have to sheepishly explain we have no rack-mounted option, no hot-swap drives or redundant power, no LOM, no actual 'server' - it's embarrassing and destroys Apple's presence in the server room." So this begs the question, does Apple need to be in the Server market? Yes.

While the ads were made and paid for by two different companies, they both said the same thing — The iPhone 4 is the best phone on the market. Period.

Apple's ad features two iPhone 4's doing the exact same thing — communicating there are now two networks (AT&T and Verizon) for iPhone 4. While the ad is mostly true (Verizon's CDMA network won't allow you to talk and do data transactions at the same time), the commercial sticks with Apple's message continuing to assert the iPhone 4 is the best/only phone you should consider.

Apple's app store is pulling away from the rest of the app stores as the place to introduce new applications to the world. Only if the application is successful, will it be ported to another platforms. The App Store not only makes it easy for users to find the best apps, it also gives developers a unified platform to build and sell their apps.

While Android begins to dominate the smart-phone market-share, it has no clear app store. Google Android Market is the official app store for Android, but there are as many app stores for Android as there are phones running it. Most device manufacturers have opened up stores for their own devices to increase their revenue. Amazon has created their own App Store for Android to compete with Google. With all these app stores, which one do you choose?

It may be the last day of calendar year 2010, but it's Apple, Inc's fiscal Q1 2011, and it looks to be a pretty hot one Jobs and company. The December quarter may very well be a record for many of Apple's devices:

• 20+ million iPhones estimated to be sold
• 4+ million Macs (a first for the company)
• A record number of iPod touch's sold
• iPads breaching the 6 million mark

What calendar year 2011 may hold?

Not too long ago Apple started building a new sales model. Apple made a shift when selling a new iPhone, as they continued to offer the dated version of the iPhone, but at a lower price point. The forthcoming iPad 2 launch is believed to be no different.

Apple first started this sales model with the release of the iPhone 3GS at $199, while the iPhone 3G stayed in the lineup, dropping to $99. Apple repeated this product positioning with their iPhone 4 launch, slotting the iPhone 3GS to $99. How successful has this sales model been? Apple never reveals a breakdown of iPhone sales by model, delivering only a total number of iPhone sales per quarter, but iPhone 3GS is AT&T's third best selling smart phone (coming in behind a Samsung Android and the number one selling iPhone 4).

 One of the advantages of having an iPhone or iPad is to stay connected while away from the computer. Out of the box, the iPhone comes with email, calendar, and a web browser to help. There are many more ways to make the iPhone or iPad more valuable. Here are some essential iOS applications that can be used to stay in touch while out and about. All of these have both an iPhone version and an iPad version.

Dropbox
Staying connected means having your files wherever you go. Apple does not provide a solution yet, but Dropbox does. It will sync seamlessly in the background to all of your computers. When you are away from a computer, the app allows access to all the files in the Dropbox folder on any device. A good example of a use for this is to bring along a hiking map in Dropbox, instead of toting the whole hiking book along on the trip. Dropbox does come with disadvantages, since it is not a full featured file browser like Finder. Many of the standard Finder tools like "rename", and "file move" have not been added. Even with these issues, Dropbox is still the only solution giving you access to your files on the computer anytime, anywhere. Dropbox is free with a 2GB storage limit.

The biggest weakness of the iOS platform right now is the lack of a user accessible file structure. Without a file structure or Finder app, iOS devices can not be a complete mobile platform. Right now, Apple tells us that files should be stored in applications on the iOS. This may be fine in the short term, but over time Apple's current file strategy will turn into frustration as users try in vain to access all their files.  There needs to be a place to store, edit, and transfer those files from application to application. Organizing files into folders is a must on any computer platform. Without a directory structure, all those files will turn into a mess. Even Google's Gmail, which was supposed to be all about search, now has folders. So, we all must hope that the current app file storage is only a stop gap until Apple comes up with AirFinder for the iOS. This new AirFinder must be designed specially for today's mobile user. You don't just create, edit, and store your files on a single iOS device anymore. The files need to move with you as you go from device to device. This new Finder needs to sync between all of you computer platforms seamlessly, in the background. AirFinder will allow you to access these files at anytime and anyplace.

The strongest crop of productivity applications in the App Store right now have either added Dropbox or are planning to add it. Why is Dropbox so popular on iOS? It allows seamless transfers between your iOS devices and any other computer or device you have from Macs to PCs. This is exactly what a mobile user is looking for. With Dropbox, you don't need to sync your iPad or iPhone with iTunes to get your latest files. All your latest files will be accessible via the Dropbox cloud service. This turns the iPad into a major productivity device saving tons of valuable time. It is not only good for productivity, but also for application preference syncing as well.  I use 1Password by Agile Web Solution for password and private data storage. Dropbox allows me to sync that data between all my devices in the background. I no longer have to manually sync my valuable data between devices or even remember which device has the latest files. The list of uses for Dropbox can go on and on. Since Dropbox is not part of the OS, it does come with many disadvantages. One of those being, you have to add it your apps to use it.

Ever struggle with having to visit many websites to keep up on the news you like to read? Well, there is a great solution to this problem that helps you review all the news you want quickly and efficiently. It is RSS, which stands for Really Simple Syndication and it is a way to get feeds of news items from lots of websites. An RSS reader pulls RSS feeds from multiple sources that you would like to follow into one place so that you can see what is new on a number of sites in one location. You can view this new content either individually like emails or as a list. Each item contains a title, full or partial text, and meta data about the new content or item. RSS documents or feeds usually come from sites with posts or articles like blogs or news websites. RSS feeds are the main way I view new content from the internet.

For the Desktop, I use the Google Reader web service as my news reader on the Mac. Google Reader is free with a google account. The best part about Google Reader is the expanded list version. Most RSS readers show each item in a feed separately, like an inbox. This makes it difficult, because you have to click on each new item to see or read the new content. You also have to click on each item to tell the application that you have read the new item, which takes a lot of time if there are a lot of updates you have no interest in reading. With Reader, each item is displayed with both title and content in a scrollable list or feed. The newest items are on top and the oldest items are at the bottom. As I scroll through the content, Reader marks those items as "read". When I come back later, Reader will show me any new content that has been added to the feeds plus whatever I didn't read from my last visit. Reader will not show me the content I have previously read. So I always get new content without the fuss of clicking on anything. It takes very little time to scroll through new content and skim to find anything that I am interested in reading.