• android,  blogger,  google,  motorola

    Blogging From Your Droid

    March 6, 2011 /
    I guess that I shouldn’t really be surprised by this, but Google has a Blogger app for Android phones.

    I recently had to replace my company issued RIM Blackberry Storm2 with a Motorola Droid Pro.

    I still miss my “CrackBerry” but the Droid Pro and I are getting along well.  As cool as this is, I don’t see myself posting a blog entry much longer than this from this tiny keyboard.

    Tap or click the Blogger icon below to download the app to your Android device from the Android Market website. (Link)

    Update

    I noticed a typo in the above post, “has” rather than “had”.  So I jumped on the blog with my Mac and after I made the update, it looks like the formatting from the Blogger app on the Droid was lost. Interesting.  I’ll have to keep an eye on that.

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  • apple,  ipad,  playbook,  rim,  touchpad

    iPad Competitor “Cat Fight”

    March 3, 2011 /

    I just finished reading John Paczkowki’s Digital Daily post titled “HP to RIM: Our iPad Challenger Is More Original Than Your iPad Challenger”, in which HP and RIM fight over who’s Apple iPad clone is more original.

    Mr. Paczkowski writes:

    “Isn’t this ironic. Hewlett-Packard and Research in Motion, two companies that haven’t officially launched their first tablets yet, talking smack to one another the day before Apple debuts its second.”

    Read the full article on Digital Daily.com.
    [Editor’s Note: I’m sorry, but I had to replace the original article’s Dr. Seuss art with the two women locked in a “cat fight” because that was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the headline.  My apologies for my sense of humor.]
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  • apple,  ios,  ipad,  iphone,  itunes,  touch

    iOS 4.3 Coming Soon, iTunes 10.2 Available Now

    March 3, 2011 /

    Along side of today’s iPad 2 event, Apple released iTunes 10.2 for Mac OS X and Windows PC, and previewed iOS 4.3, which will be released on March 11 also.

    iOS 4.3 Update

    In iOS 4.3, Apple has added incremental improvements to Safari and AirPlay.  Apple also baked in iTunes Home Sharing, iPad Side Switch (formerly known as the orientation lock switch and mute switch) preference setting, and, for the iPhone 4, the Personal Hotspot.

    iOS 4.3 will be available for current model iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch models.  While reading the Apple website for details on iOS 4.3, the second generation AppleTV was not mentioned, however, I expect that device to also receive an update before too long.

    iTunes 10.2 Update

    iTunes was updated to 10.2 today to bring support to Macs and Windows PCs for the new iOS 4.3 features, and probably support for the iPad 2, however, the iPad 2 was not specifically mentioned in the update description.

    iTunes 10.2 can be downloaded now via the Software Update control panel on your Mac or PC.

    Check out all the details over at Apple.com.

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  • apple,  ios,  ipad

    Apple Unveils iPad 2, Ships March 11

    March 3, 2011 /

    Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPad 2 today.  Bask in it’s coolness, now in two colors: Black and White.

    The new iPad features a new lighter design, a dual-core Apple A5 processor, FaceTime cameras, and all for the same $499 price point as the original.

    iPad 2 will go on sale at 5pm on March 11, 2011.  For more details, check the Apple website.

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  • apple,  ipad,  newspapers,  tablet

    What Would Change on the Apple iPad

    February 27, 2011 /

    On Feb 24, The Daily, the iPad daily newspaper, asked readers what feature would they change for iPad 2 and whether or not they would upgrade or defect to another tablet platform.  The responses where interesting.

    39% of the people who responded by the time I got around to reading the article had stated that the feature they are most interested in is a front facing FaceTime camera.  And with rumors of the iPad 3 possibly shipping in September along side new iPod touch models, 55% of the people who responded, again at the time I had voted, said that they would wait until the third generation Apple tablet to upgrade.

    [Via The Daily…]

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  • blackberry,  rim

    RIM: BlackBerry Play Book App Development Too Difficult

    February 26, 2011 /

    BlackBerry maker, Research in Motion, is clearly fighting an up hill battle for “mindshare” among customers and potential customers.

    The latest problem for the company, whose handsets are in decline due to strong sales of the Apple iPhone and phones based on Google’s Android OS, could be coming from the very people RIM needs the most: application developers.

    Jamie Murai, a small BlackBerry application developer has recently posted an open letter to RIM stating his displeasure with the tools for BlackBerry PlayBook application development. Mr. Murai writes:

    “On a more serious note, being the underdog, you need to make your process AT LEAST as simple as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You need to make your tools AT LEAST as good as Apple’s or Google’s, if not more so. You have failed at both.”

    Ouch!  I encourage you to read the full open letter to get the full context of what Mr. Murai is talking about, but the bottom line gets summarized nicely with the quote above.
    At least you don’t need to have a BlackBerry smartphone to use all the features of the new PlayBook, like Palm was planning to do with the Treo and the Foleo.  Oh, wait – you do need to pair a PlayBook with a BlackBerry.  Nevermind.
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  • apple,  ipad,  newspapers,  subscriptions. rumors

    The Daily Gets Another Free Preview Extension

    February 26, 2011 /

    The Daily, the iPad only digital newspaper, has received another extension to it’s free preview period.  The preview period continues to be sponsored by Verizon and will be free to iPad users until March 21, 2011.

    Once the preview period for The Daily expires, subscriptions to the new digital newspaper can be subscribed to as an in app purchase of $0.99 per week or $39.99 per year.  The Daily, as the name implies, is published 365 days a year.

    For more information about The Daily, check out The Daily website.

    Rumor: Hmmm….I wonder when the iPad 2 will begin shipping?  The week before, perhaps?

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  • apple,  ipad,  iphone,  rumors

    Apple Supply Chain In Good Shape Analyst Reports

    February 23, 2011 /

    Over the last two days, rumors have been circulating on the Internet that Apple has been facing supply chain problems that would delay the launch of the iPad this spring and the iPhone by several months each.

    iPad 2

    Hours after the initial reports began to surface, Apple’s stock price began to sink.  By the end of the day yesterday, new reports from analysts including Concord Securities’s Ming-Chi Kuo, are now reporting that their checks of the Apple supply chain is in good shape.  Mr. Kuo estimates that Apple will be able to manufacture and be ready to sell somewhere in the neighborhood of up to 5 million iPad 2 units by the end of March with another round of about 3-4 million units in April.  So, in a two month period, it is estimated that Apple could have 7-9 million iPad 2 units to sell to customers eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new iPads.  The rumor of iPad 2 launch date delays is likely due to what Mr. Kuo reports as a late shipment of displays for the new device which is not expected to impact the launch of iPad 2.

    About the only people who aren’t excited about the debunked reports of lipping iPad shipment dates are the likes of HP, RIM, and Motorola who are trying to put up a credible alternative to the iPad.

    iPhone 5

    Apple’s 2011 refresh of the iPhone, dubbed iPhone 5, is expected to be introduced in early June at Apple’s annual World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC) with a ship date of weeks after the event.

    Details are still sketchy around whether or not Apple will release both a GSM and a CDMA iPhone 5 at the same time and whether or not iPhone 5 will become available for sale here in the US on AT&T and Verizon’s networks simultaneously or not.

    With some software developers and analysts suggesting that Verizon’s sales figures of the new CDMA iPhone 4 are not as high as originally expected, I’m looking to see what the sales figures of a Verizon iPhone 5 will be.

    If you look at the timing of the Verizon iPhone release, it is in the middle of a contract cycle with the AT&T GSM iPhone 4.  Last year, AT&T raised the cost to terminate smartphone contracts early to over $300 per line.  In today’s economy, that is surely putting pressure on people who signed up with AT&T to get the iPhone, but would prefer to be on the Verizon network.

    Come June 2011, there will be a number of AT&T iPhone 3GS and Sprint Palm Pre users coming of contract who will be free and clear to jump to a newly minted Verizon iPhone 5.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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