WANTED: Apple Seeks Flexible Body.
“Apple Inc is looking for a display specialist to lead the investigation on emerging display technologies such as high optical efficiency LCD, AMOLED and flexible display to improve overall display optical performance.”
The job listing has since been removed by Cupertino HQ. We assume, this could be related to a future iWatch (can’t see this being released in near term with a ‘flex body’ if they’re posting the job NOW) or future iPhone.
On the matter of an ‘iWatch’, Microsoft did try this before:
However, Steve Jobs also said this:
“So when a good idea comes, you know, part of my job is to move it around, just see what different people think, get people talking about it, argue with people about it, get ideas moving among that group of 100 people, get different people together to explore different aspects of it quietly, and, you know – just explore things.”
Ideas only become great when everything else is there to support it. Am iWatch or future TV can be successful for Apple, because everything is in place to capitalize on the success: Apple ID, broadband, iTunes, App Store, Siri, iCloud, GPS etc. Essentially, an established, “integrated” ecosystem exists feed these “thin client devices”.
Microsoft’s SPOT watch didn’t have that robust infrastructure and ecosystem…so it just didn’t make it far in 2003.
Sometimes, ideas are too ahead of their time. If Apple had released the iPad first vs. the iPhone, they would have missed the BOAT because the ecosystem IS the mobile phone user…not the third category user.
Releasing the iPad after the iPhone essentially staged the playing field properly as the education curve for users would allow them to easily adopt the iPad, and enable developers to tweak existing apps, before moving to full native iPad apps and easily add revenue to their bottom-line. The resulting effect of third category success (iPad) for Apple has been the complete and utter decimation of PC sales as has been reported recently.
A.
#BlackBerry #Z10 Debuts... No Lines, No Waiting. @CNBC Child's Play coverage continues...
Yup, because we could order the Z10 from a pre-order list. CNBC ‘s (and WSJ’s) “deep analysis” attributes ALL product launch success to long lines, hype, and camp outs…uhuh. Leave the social media hype (some call them “social media hippies”) out of this.
Let me put this into context - I am a huge Apple fan but I *love* BlackBerry.
But seriously, the marathon runs and high-fives through Apple stores after a purchase are completely silly and bizarre and do more to alienate people as to WHY Apple is liked - great products.
While being ‘cool’ and ‘hip’ may play into this, it has also caused competitors like Samsung to (wrongly) mock Apple in commercials for the WRONG reasons. Rather than focus on the WHY’s, Samsung has decided it makes more sense to mock Apple for the cult-like nonsense that has been generated with new store product launches. This isn’t very different than negative political ad campaigns. They don’t work!
Further, the idea of waiting in a line the night before for first grabs at a new “phone” is simply not my idea of time well-spent.
The last time I waited FOUR hours in a long line was when “The Empire Strikes Back” hit theatres and this was well before VHS, DVD, cable and on-demand programming even existed! We waited because we KNEW the movie would not make it to “commercial” television for seven plus years after film release.
Now, theatres generate hype-lines to create a “follow-me” or “look at them” effect to get ticket sales. It truly is cheesy.
A.
The Rise Of Foreign #Exploits and #Cyberattacks
It has been an interesting couple of weeks. Outside of the general news reporting about exploits and cyber attacks, it was hard to ignore the chatter from my own personal network of folks, both in technology and the intelligence community, telling me about the rising attacks from foreign shores.
Even tonight, a media report on CBC’s the National reported about another incident that was undetected until the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre learned about the Chinese-originating cyber attack from the CBC. (See Video).
In the past week, Apple, Facebook and Microsoft succumbed to malware exploits and the other day, Tumblr’s platform (which this site is hosted on) sent a notice announcing a ZenDesk exploit which exposed account-level data for support issues.
Over a few drinks tonight, a respected colleague and I shared the latest thoughts on technology trends and macro geopolitical trends before he shared an interesting tidbit about a friend in Davos exchanging some strong words with a Chinese official over the rise of cyber-attacks from the region. The Chinese official replied back, “You stole our gun powder…” Talk about taking the long-view.
Most troubling is the fact that most media reporting about origin of most cyber attacks appears to very unclear. Some officials in the US intelligence community told western media this week that a China-origin attack was unlikely as the cyber-exploits appear “sophisticated” and of East-European or Russian origin where the underground cyber-criminal networks run deep.
How would we know? It could be spin-doctoring on a much grander scale. I smelled a rat on some of the reporting.
Even worse, Anonymous has functioned trans-nationally without any defined geographical framework very similar Al-Qaeda. Could the attacks purely be Russian, East-European, China or Anonymous? No one really knows.
Recent CBC reports from the past year appear to indicate that “state-sponsored” Chinese cyber-attacks have been economically-tied and part of a newer form of cyber espionage as shown in this video:
On February 21, Malwarebytes’ communications team contacted me about the NBC.com hack the same day which embedded malicious iframe code to spread the Citadel Trojan. It was detected as Backdoor.Agent.RS.
On his blog, Dancho Danchev suggested that the criminals behind NBC.com’s hack may be the same people behind recent fake emails from Facebook and Verizon which directed unsuspecting users to exploit pages.
In other words, NBC.com was compromised for about 15 minutes and the actual iframe with the malicious redirect was embedded in a java-script file located on the web server for NBC.com. It used the RedKit exploit kit to spread the malware and exploited both Java and Adobe Reader. The malware, Citadel, is a reproduction of the Zeus banker Trojan and has the same capabilities of stealing financial information from users. In addition, it can execute subsequent malware by installing Ransomware on the victim’s system. The exploit has since been taken down.
Interestingly, as a long-time user of Malwarebytes, the anti-malware product protects desktops/laptops from this threat due to its behavior-based zero-hour engine that stops new malware that has not been seen before and doesn’t yet have a signature (i.e. antidote) created to update a user’s desktop anti-virus definitions.
Microsoft’s Security Response Center posted this statement about their recent intrusion similar to those at Facebook and Apple.
Whether these exploits are of cyber-criminal, trans-national or state-sponsored origin, what’s becoming more clear for me is the growing requirement of online users to protect their digital profiles, cloud-based files, and financial information pro-actively with as many security measures as possible.
For me, this transformation started with Google products with Google Authenticator to protect online products and products accessed from multiple smartphones and tablets.
Thanks for Choosing #Rogers
What a difference two months makes. I decided to KILL a “value plan” which Rogers offered for iPhone customers that included unlimited text to Canada, US and International (thank Wind Mobile for that because before Wind, it was unlimited Canada ONLY), unlimited MMS (audio, video, pics) to Canada, visual voicemail, call display and something else (lol)….$20.
I killed this in October. Decided to “come back” (thank you loyal customer of many many years) and ask for same from rep in the AM. Of course, I repeat the expected plan I am to get based on October’s time-frame and am told it’s all good.
After several reboots of phone, text messaging isn’t working. Some tech calls later, and more questions and I find out:
- no unlimited Canada text but unlimited US and international (What?)
- no unlimited MMS (audio, video, pics)
But if I want unlimited Canada text and MMS, I lose unlimited US and international. Rep on the phone says “I hear ya” to my frustration over misinformation in the AM and these constant plan changes that people have no way of tracking. A special note is put on file to eliminate Canada texts from AM until late day because I wasn’t aware of the “value plan” CHANGES.
Life shouldn’t be this hard with your cell phone provider. Is it anyone reason why I am a happy Wind Mobile customer. I am only sticking around because I have the classic (never to be seen again) 6GB data bundle for my 3GS that I got months before (Sept 2009) Bell and Telus went with their new HSPA networks forcing all three incumbents to “mysteriously” re-calibrate in synchronized fashion to a 1GB, 3GB and 5GB bundle that is priced the same! How did they know how to do that? (smirk)
Wind Mobile is at 500K subscriber front for a reason. I will never leave them because we need REAL and TRUE choice in the market. I don’t mind paying a reasonable price for a bundle at Rogers but nothing reasonable exists anymore when they bundle “features” that add so much complexity, that it’s like buying a new car with the add-ons…just isn’t fun.
Let’s add some more sizzle. Per message text pricing “used to” be 15c but in the new world of seriously new competition, it’s 25c per text outside of a bundle. TWENTY FIVE CENTS! The real cost is nothing near this.
Here’s an old Techvibes article on SMS cost and pricing.
Seriously, if I could migrate my iPhone to the WIND network (unlikely WIND AWS will ever see an iPhone because of Apple’s arrangement and bandwidth drain), I would have left Rogers long ago.
Instead, I end up keeping two phones to achieve some degree of normalcy on costs that would easily shoot up to over $130+ with Rogers bundles and pricing.
After the rep agreed with my discontent, she closed with “Thank you for CHOOSING Rogers”
LOL — I only choose the 6GB data for unlimited iMessaging so you don’t get anything. Thanks Apple for your iCloud framework.
Source: techvibes.com
#Why I Hate #Hollywood For #Movies!
Hollywood will never get it. They’re so petrified at killing the ‘perceived value’ for their content that they will go to great lengths to discourage you from buying digital content.
As a huge Batman and Toronto Batman (lol) fan, my jaw dropped when I saw the ridiculous pricing for a digital only version of The Dark Knight Rises on Apple Canada’s iTunes Store. This price isn’t set by Apple but the death star called Hollywood.
That’s $24.99 for the Digital HD version of the epic finale to an amazing trilogy.
Now let’s look at deals for physical media from Walmart (Best Buy Canada and Amazon Canada were “roughly” the same).
The Dark Knight Rises 2-DISC BLU-RAY + DVD
The Dark Knight Rises DVD
The Trilogy - Limited Edition Set
The Dark Knight Rises (BLU-RAY)
Am I going to buy a iTunes Digital version (encrypted and limited to 5 Apple iDevices - the limitation doesn’t really bother me) for that price when we all know the physical media offers just a bit more in the value department? Further, I’ve already experienced “iTunes in the Cloud” and I assumed my content was safe but based on a recent incident with Yuma 3:10 (re-make), I discovered that if such content is kept in the cloud, and the movie peeps “re-modify” the movie (whatever that means), I lose the content forever. Can you believe it? Apple’s iTunes was kind enough to explain this and offered me a free rental credit and encouraged me to send feedback to them — obviously, to pool the complaints by their customers for Hollywood.
Why should we bother? Hollywood is fully aware of this. And they don’t listen. So customers are faced with limited, cost-reasonable choices and unfortunately will go out of their way to acquire the content in the manner they desire. As well, it is bothersome that iTunes Canada doesn’t have a full movie catalogue like an old brick-and-mortar Blockbuster - but that isn’t Apple. That’s movie licensing. We will never see a packed catalogue on Netflix or iTunes because of Hollywood’s pathetic money-grabbing windowing system. If I could find the classic George C. Scott “The Changeling” on ITunes, I’d probably pay a bit more for the digital copy rather than try to dig it out of a DVD bargain bin at Walmart and and then clear the dust off the DVD player to see it.
What if I bought the iTunes HD version of #TDKR through iTunes but somehow got the physical version in return? Would this drive sales? My gut instinct says yes. Or why not offer a digital version with the physical media — I read up on something called “Ultraviolet Edition” but I don’t know if that’s the same thing. Anyone know?
Hollywood. Grow some….and stop being so damn greedy.
- Apple iTunes 11 (winsupersite.com)
- My Purchased Digital Movie in #Apple #iTunes is Gone Thanks To Re-Modification! (alexanderbosika.com)
- Apple To Make Hollywood an Offer It Can’t Refuse (cultofmac.com)
- Christopher Nolan Talks about the Ending of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES and More (collider.com)
- Honest Trailer for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (collider.com)
- The Dark Knight Rises iPad companion app pictures and hands-on (pocket-lint.com)
- Virgin Media screens The Dark Knight Rises in true Batman style, on top of a tower block (pocket-lint.com)
Mesmerized by Another #Playbook Game: #Supersonic
The Blackberry App World community is filled with long-tail game developers that produce some high-quality entertainment for the price of a Starbucks Tall Vanilla Latte.
Take Supersonic by Kuuasema. For $2.99, this game is a steal! Beyond epic game reviews, the game is simple, fun and quite engaging and the music helps! To steal a sample of the game play, I had to do a bit of juggling between my Playbook and Blackberry Curve to capture some of my game play.
What makes this especially cool is that the game company is from Finland! As Co-Founder for MobileMonday Toronto (www.mobilemondaytoronto.com and @momotoronto), I am fond of my Finnish mates that started the great open-source mobile industry movement that has taken the world by storm - now with 100+ chapters worldwide.
Kudos to some additional Finnish friends at Kuuasema for this great game — I’ll be seeking out more of your titles! ;-)
As a long-time gamer, this game brought back memories of the old coin-op Tempest game - a pure classic. Don’t know Tempest? Here’s a snapshot.
Not entirely the same game concept but similar. Supersonic, however, is much faster and far more hypnotic thanks to the music.
Here are some sample screenshots from the game:
And herein lies my point to all of this. You don’t need big name developers to deliver ALLthe fun. There is a bounty of small-time developers that have CHOSEN app developer for the Playbook to a loyal and dedicated user base.
All of this reminds me of the grassroots community of shareware developers that essentially kept Apple alive (Macintosh) during the post-Jobs-1 dark years.
Please: No comments about terrible game play. :-)
#BB10Believe
There’s plenty of hope for BB10 and a RIM revival in terms of support for apps and key development on the newer smartphones and Playbooks?
Do I think RIM has a shooting chance to make for a perfect rebirth? I really think so. The Playbook is a great device and this kind of long-tail content can’t be ignored.
Just imagine what will be available in Q1, 2013?
- Why one game developer loves the BlackBerry PlayBook (devblog.blackberry.com)
- Critter Escape Hits App World for the PlayBook! (Union) (berryreview.com)
- It’s basketball time and it’s free - Hoops for the BlackBerry PlayBook (crackberry.com)
Source: kuuasema.com
Nokia Here Maps for iOS. Just installed. Not bad. However, I am one of those that hasn’t encountered dramatic challenges with Apple Maps. That said, like many others, I did like Street View; however, let’s not kid ourselves. I have used Google Maps many times and it wasn’t perfect either.
On Here Maps, getting directions seemed problematic as I couldn’t use my location as the starting point. It could be pebkac but didn’t find it easy and intuitive like Apple maps. I’ll keep at it.
- Nokia Here Maps App Coming To iOS, Apple Should Welcome It With Open Arms (techcrunch.com)
- Google Reportedly Readies Maps App For iOS As Eddy Cue Manages Apple’s Maps Improvements (techcrunch.com)
- Report: Google Maps app nearly ready to submit to Apple (iphonelife.com)
- Nokia’s ‘Here’ maps available now for iOS, but we’re still holding out for Google Maps (venturebeat.com)
BB10 at a Laker’s Game
(Photo: Posted on Techcrunch)
Techcrunch sure has it in for RIM and the gang. A terrible article. Why even speculate on this being a ‘staged’ event for ‘leaked’ photos.
Why on earth would RIM risk a staged event like Apple’s “second lost phone” incident to be ridiculed? RIM has to deliver and they’re not in a position to even try that kind of thing the media like TC already has it in for them anyway (!)
Lousy TC speculation. RIM already announced the devices would be released LOL. There’s no reason to “leak” something that is already announced. The photos appear to show Dev A’s and I think our RIM folks are just testing things out in the real world.
A lot of hot air from Techcrunch but they’ve succeeded because the comments are in and so is this blog post. Fooled again (sarcasm)!
- #Playbook: A Gamer’s Delight! (alexanderbosika.com)
- BlackBerry 10 Launch Event On January 30, 2013 To Detail First Two BB10 Smartphones (techcrunch.com)
- #BBM Voice Test Leads To Astounding Results! Skype - watch out! (alexanderbosika.com)
- What if RIM’s BB10 is a success? (business.financialpost.com)
Source: TechCrunch
Apple just earned the patent for the underlying aspects of the page scroll.
This is common to the iBooks experience. However, the attached screenshot is from the Kindle iOS app. The devil is in the details I guess.
It is a cool effect and there’s a story about Jobs becoming absolutely fascinated by it when someone presented the concept.
In one other incident, Steve Jobs was stopped by a developer that came up with the MacOSX Tray effects with magnification etc. He was hired on the spot, if memory serves, to work on MacOSX and “may” be the same person for the iBooks page scroll.
Experiences worth patenting? In Apple’s eyes…yes.
