Apple Patent Filing Shows Smartwatch With Wrap Around Screen

The idea of smartwatches has become a big topic this year and is continuing to grow. Much of the discussion this year has come about because of the Pebble watch which was presented at CES this year in Ls Vegas. And that unveiling has created a lot of coverage from so many about what the Pebble was going to provide with the Bluetooth integration with your smartphone. For us, the bigger question is Will SmartWatches Make Watches Popular Again?. Watches have fallen out of favor because your smartphone has a watch on the screen available at all time to review.

But, with the revelation of Apple's iWatch Patent Filing (20130044215) from August 17, 2011 and approval, we are entering another period of discussions about smartwatches. What makes the iWatch patent filing so different is that it is a wrap around design indicating that the screen will be continuous around the wrist. We have not seen anything like that previously being talked about. And this is a patent filing from 2011, so this is not what may come to market, but rather a conceptual design. Apple has done another great job of trying to predict what the future may hold.

The idea of a flexible smartphone screen is expected to arrive this year and resulting in some great looking and functioning smartphones. Samsung has already shown prototypes of things to come. Translating the idea of a smartwatch which can worn around your wrist is not a stretch and will be seen this year. But, a wrap around screen has not been discussed in the past few months, so the iWatch is going to alter what can be possible this year. And we are already starting to see mock ups of the iWatch showing a series of small screens strung together on the band.

All of this is going to lead to competition for the smartwatch market between Apple and Samsung which is always a good thing for consumers. Whether a completely wrap around display arrives remains to be seen. But we will be seeing smartwatches which have multitouch screens. Yes, we expected to see them with 2 or 3 small square panels to provide a number of features and functions. The most notable with be the ability to connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth and let you know who is calling or information about the latest email or text.

As with any technology device interaction, there is the issue of providing power. And smartwatches are not going to be any different in that area. Apple's patent filing shows the idea of solar panels on the watch to attempt to supplement the battery. The bottom line is that a smartwatch is going to have to be recharged. Just how often you will have to recharge it is an unknown and too early to have any information as to potential usage between charges. This is going to be the one big item to indicate sales. If your smartphone can make it through the day before charging, that is OK. The same cannot be said for a smartwatch.

Waiting for smartwatches to arrive.

Your Smartphone May Be the Best Weight Loss Tool You Own

That’s what we set out to prove with our latest guide, “Top Diet & Fitness Mobile Apps.” With the help of fitness expert Wesley Virgin, we highlight the most popular and cutting-edge apps for getting in shape.

In this era of tablets, smartphones and 24/7 online connectivity, we now have a new class of fitness tools not available to us just a few years ago. Many people don’t realize that iPhones and Android devices are powerful tools in the battle to stay fit and healthy.

Like most people, you probably have your phone with you at all times, every day. This “always-on” connectivity presents a huge opportunity for health and fitness information wherever and whenever you need it. You can make informed, healthy choices at a restaurant or when shopping at the grocery store.

You can download workout routines for the gym or your home designed by fitness professionals. You can learn how to properly perform exercises if you’re a beginner, or improve the efficiency of your workouts if you’re a fitness veteran. Try new exercises by watching video demos, design and schedule your own custom workout plan, analyze your progress and make adjustments, all from your phone. Today’s apps provide everything you need to reach your fitness goals.

Nutrition and diet apps can be your best friend when you’re alone. At the office wondering what you should eat for lunch, when out running errands and getting hungry, on business trips away from home; these are times when you’re most vulnerable. When trying to keep your diet on track, apps can keep you focused on what you should be eating.

Many of the apps also have social features that plug you into a community of like-minded fitness peers for support, inspiration and to challenge each other.

Aside from the great apps in featured in our guide, your phone can be part of your own support team, keeping you connected to family, friends or personal trainers so you stay motivated and progressing when away from home. Mobile devices can also keep you energized with your workout music and inspired with motivational messages and stories.

Too busy to workout? Can’t afford a gym membership or personal trainer? No support? Lack of information to make healthy food choices? Not anymore. There really are no excuses to getting in shape these days!

The guide will be on sale on Amazon.com next week, but our subscribers can get a copy for free by visiting this page: Top Diet & Fitness Apps

Apple Cufflinks To Whow Your Love Of Apple

If you are an Apple fan and love all things Apple, you need to show just how much of a follower of their technology you really are. And what better way than to wear that on your sleeve so to speak. To be more specific, you can wear that as a cufflink to showcase your iPhone.

The iPhone cufflink shown here is a great looking one to show off your love of the iPhone. These look like the real thing, but you cannot do anything else with them other than looking at them. Maybe in the future, the iPhone will be small enough to get your phone down to that size. But for now, these will generate some conversations.

If you would rather not have cufflinks of the iPhone, you can take a look at Apple cufflinks to show your appreciation in a more generic way so that it is not a specific product, but rather representing the Apple logo. This one is not as flashy as the iPhone cufflinks, but stills shows your appreciation for all the great Apple products which you use.

And there are so many other jewelry items for both men and women to show your love of everything Apple at Amazon. There is bound to be one that you find intriguing for you to wear. These include cufflinks, charms, earrings and many others for you to chose from.

Apple Impacting The Future Of Android

We have been seeing Apple attacking the Google Android OS which is running on a majority of smart phones around the world. These attacks have not been directly against Google, but instead against the companies which are using the Android OS. And these continuing lawsuits for patent infringements are going to begin to have a chilling affect on the future for Android and smart phones. Up until a few months ago, we would have considered that Android was going to outlast all the Apple lawsuits, but it now appears that phone manufacturers are going to be getting other options presented to them. And one of those other options will come from Microsoft and Windows Phone 8.

The continuing lawsuits being filed from Apple are going to alter the long term future for the Android OS. There are a lot of you who would not agree with that statement, but given the legal costs and the reoccurring license fees when a company is forced to settle, it makes Android less attractive. Android gives away its Android OS and that is what has made it so attractive to handset manufacturers. The result is global market share for Android. But it is not really free as there are costs associated with defending your use of it. And those instances are growing.

We know that Microsoft charges license fees for the use of their Windows Phone OS. And with those fees, there is an expectation that you will not have to face the same situation which has come down on Samsung, HTC and others. We all know about the lawsuits around the world between Samsung and Apple. And the legal feeds for that alone is draining money from Samsung. We know that Apple offered Samsung a licensing deal at one point of $30 per phone and then be able to use all the iPhone patents. That is a healthy cost to put out there from Apple.

And Samsung is not the only one. HTC has also been involved with a patent lawsuit with Apple and agreed to a settlement paying a fee of between $6 to $8 per Android phone sold. That will cut into what HTC can charge for their phones. These numbers are coming from unnamed sources and is not directly from Apple or HTC. HTC has been seeing declining sales over the past few years and with the lawsuits, it places a drain on the company. And these are not the only ones.

With all of this going on, companies are going to begin to look elsewhere for an OS to drive their smart phones. One is to develop their own, but that puts you out there by yourself in offering new features. Microsoft may be the wave of the future for phone as manufacturers look for an alternative to the Android OS. And with Windows Phone 8, the timing may fit well when making plans for next year. We are starting to hear of more companies looking to sell Windows Phone OS handsets next year.

There have been predictions for Microsoft to have a good foothold in market share by 2015, but it did not sound that reasonable. Looking at where things are at with Apple suing manufacturers, we might see a shift away from Android OS phones to Windows 8 OS phones. Apple may well be pushing manufacturers in that direction.

So much of this is speculation, but one has to wonder how long phone manufacturers can continue to defend themselves against lawsuits.

Apple iPad On The Verge Of Losing Tablet Market Control

Recent survey shows Android tablets growing to majority

The Apple iPad is a desirable device that has set the bar very high for all the other competitors in the tablet market. There current screen resolution is what everyone else is trying to achieve. And it is because of the quality of the product, Apple has pretty much controlled the market. But there are glimpses that there is a change afoot where Apple may be losing their leadership position in the world of tablets. And it is all because of Android and the 7 inch market segment.

Based on a very recent market study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, things are changing. They were measuring ownership and usage of tablets by adults in the US. In the comparison between 2011 and 2012, there are some obvious shifts in the information. One of the startling numbers produced is that 68% of those surveyed purchased their tablet in the last year. That number tells you just how fast things are changing. And they are going to continue to change.

In the Pew Internet & American Life Project survey, the startling number is the difference in market share between 2011 and 2012. In 2011, Apple pretty much controlled the market with a share of 81% in July. That shows the power that the iPad had. Android had a 15% share and everyone else had a 4% share. The Blackberry PlayBook is lost in that 4% share. Things looked very good for Apple.

But then things seem to be looking different for the future. Amazon announced and then released their 7 inch Kindle Fire before the holidays. And the sales took off. Barnes and Noble release their Nook Tablet which has been doing a decent job with sales. All of this after the previous survey results. Now we come forward to the July 2012 results and see a shift in the share. The iPad has dropped from 81% to 52% and that does not look good for Apple retaining control. The Android tablets grew from 15% to 48% and that is likely to increase significantly with the next survey. All the other tablets, such as the Blackberry PlayBook are not even showing up in the results.

This does not look good for Apple. And to make the situation even worse for them, these results were provided before 2 key events. The first was the release of the Nexus 7 from Google. The other was the announcement of the Kindle Fire HD. Both of these tablets are going to have an impact on the market share that Apple has. And they are both a 7 inch tablet, which is smaller than the current iPad.

The only potential to slow the slide would be for Apple to release the iPad Mini, At the moment, that is only a rumored device with no confirmation from Apple. The most current rumor has Apple sending out invites on October 10th with the official announcement happening on October 17th. If the rumored pricing is correct in the range of $249 to $299, Apple could retain some of what we expect them to lose. If they hit the $200 price point, they could make a big splash in the market and take back the majority share.

All of this looks to be inevitable for Apple and even with the release of the 7.85 iPad Mini, there are just too many competitors out there for them to keep up. It is like the iPhone as compared to Android smart phones. There is just no way they can stop the growing tide from over taking them.

Whether you prefer Apple's iPad to the Android tablets, the Android tablets probably have already taken the majority share. That is unless the iPad Mini comes out as rumored.

Are We Seeing The New And Improved Apple?

Is Apple showing empathy to customer frustrations?

The large number of problems with the latest release of the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 is unprecedented at Apple and something never seen on this scale before with all the problems. The Apple Maps has come to show that Apple is not perfect and does make mistakes, but this one could have been avoided. And we hope that it will never be repeated again in the history of the company. The one thing that Apple did was to respond to the map problems with an open letter to consumers from Tim Cook apologizing for the lack of quality and that they will do better. And they must do better.

While there is a lot of focus on the Apple Maps problems, it seems that some have missed the point of what has happened here. When Steve Jobs was at the helm, he would have never admitted they made a mistake. We know that he would never have released the product as we are seeing it. But, when there were problems, such as AntennaGate, he would not issue any statement about the problem. Tim Cook has opened a new page at Apple and it could be a really great change for the company.

Apple has such a loyal base of fans and for years, they have been taken for granted it seems. When there are problems, such as the continuing battery life issues, Apple would not publicly admit there was a problem. You might see something in the release notes for iOS where they were trying to "improve" battery life, but never to fix it. That was the Steve Jobs way of doing things.

With Tim Cock running the company, we may be seeing a company which wants to connect with their customers in ways that they have never done before. The open letter admitting they made a mistake goes a long ways to connect with customers. And they should continue to connect with customers in this way. Their customers are what makes Apple a really great company which has very high value. They must re-connect with them.

One of the ways to do that might be for Tim Cook to offer an open letter to consumers talking about Apple and their products. That has not been the Apple of the past, but the Apple of the future really must do something like that. People want to feel that a company is reaching out to them. An open letter 2 or 3 times a year from the CEO might generate more interest in the company.

The current open letter has generated a huge amount of interest and definitely shows the value that this kind of thing might hold for Apple. The idea of a new and improved Apple really needs to come through as it seems things have floundered with the latest releases. There must be steps to show that this is a brand new day for Apple and how they are going to move forward. There needs to be redemption so that customers continue to have great pride for owning Apple products.

For Tim Cook, I applaud the example he has set at Apple. It is one that needs to be repeated over and over again to show they are an even better company than before.

Apple Passbook Looks To Be The Future For Mobile Wallet

Apple's holder for electronic items shows great promise.

The reporting of the latest Apple iPhone has been consuming the news cycles with all that it has to offer. Or not offer in the case of the problematic Apple maps and all the quality issues which are showing up. At some point, Apple will get that resolved and the problems will go away. But the big take away is for Apple's Passbook feature which is part of iOS 6 and holds lots of promise for what it can do for you. And that is even though Apple has not included the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in the iPhone 5. Apple has decided to not jump in the middle of NFC and all the fragmentation which has been going on this year.

Their new Passbook feature provides them with an alternative to the not yet ready NFC and one that looks to be extremely popular. Though it was just released last week, things are already up and running. Major League Baseball (MLB) is on board at the start using Passbook for electronic tickets at 4 league ball parks. And many others are going to be providing their app to be used in conjunction with Passbook. While Starbucks already had their app for handling payments, they are going to be adding a new app for buying your Starbucks coffee contained in Psasbook. And they are just one of many.

And there is work under way to use Passbook for tickets at College games this year via StubHub. Target is providing coupons in Passbook which can be redeemed from scanning the screen. Airlines are moving towards using the Passbook interface for displaying electronic boarding passes instead of paper ones. Amtrak is working to get it operational for tickets and the list is going to continue to grow quickly.

All of this shows that Passbook is going to set a new standard which the rest of the industry is going to have to follow in order to keep up. For the next year, the concept of a Passbook is going to be followed by others. Including Android, as this is a very hot idea and one that has needed to be implemented for holding things in a Mobile Wallet which you previously had to hold in your physical wallet. That is the technology shift which we all thought might be in place earlier this year. But Passbook is not focused around making payments and that is the beauty of it.

The future for Passbook seems to be wide open right now and may continue that way for a long time. Think about putting those annoying gift cards into Passbook instead of carrying them around. That would be novel. Or those cards you carry for being a loyal customer. Instead of carrying them in your wallet, they would be in your phone. It would be great to reduce the size of my wallet by removing a few cards.

And there is nothing to stop Apple from implementing a different method for making mobile payments. Some have speculated that Apple could use BlueTooth to accomplish mobile payments instead of relying on NFC. That may not work with some of the new POS devices, but it could be possible. And I am sure that Apple is already looking at alternatives for doing Mobile Payments.

It is all about the future and Passbook shows us the future now.

Apple Map Problems Show Steve Jobs Influence is Gone

Quality used to be hallmark of Apple, but no more.

Apple has released their latest OS in iOS 6 to provide more features as they continue to improve things for the iPhone 5. As part of that, they have made a decision to replace the popular Google Maps with Apple Maps. And the result is not a pretty one. As shown here from The Amazing iOS 6 maps you can see for yourself just how bad things are. Apple has really made a mess of things. Check out the site if you want to see more of the mapping issues which are being suffered in iOS 6. It is pretty bad. They are showing locations which are some place other than where they should be. But this really raises a number of other concerns, the most important of which is quality. Steve Jobs was all about quality.

There are the stories from back in the early days of Apple where he forces programmers to make changes to the OS in order to shave a few seconds off the boot up time. If you have read the biography of Steve Jobs, you know that he was a perfectionist. Just look at the NeXTcube which had a very unique shape and required a lot of specially made machines to manufacture. All of that was about presenting the perfect design and product. During Steve Jobs leadership at Apple, they never delivered a product which you might consider as being anything less than outstanding. That has all now changed with iOS 6 and maps.

While you can debate exactly why Apple has moved to handling their own maps, the bigger question is really did they release it too soon? In my opinion, Apple maps is definitely not ready to be released and that is because it does not measure up to Steve Job's standards for excellence. He had spent years instilling in people the idea of delivering the best possible products for people to use and meet their needs. The pictures of how Apple maps is being displayed is at the opposite side of the spectrum of quality. Whoever made the decision to roll this out now should be fired. Oh, I forgot, that was Tim Cook.

And the reports about how the Apple maps has forever changed the company's reputation are making the rounds. And it has already changed the impression of so many just by what is being displayed. While the funny answers which Siri produced last year were great, they did not tarnish the reputation of Apple. But the maps being displayed has forever altered people's perception about quality at Apple. Comparisons between Apple maps and Google maps has Google as the hands down winner when doing location searches. And that is exactly what so many do on a mobile device when using maps.

While we can expect Apple to throw a lot of resources to correct this big problem, it moves them to the likes of Microsoft in throwing resources and money to correct a problem. Apple has always eliminated the problem BEFORE it went to market. This example is a horrible example of how they have killed off Steve Job's legacy and all the good will he created with the products that he created. The company and reputation will never be the same.

Steve Jobs has left the building!

While all of this is very serious, we thought we would leave you with a little humor in the YouTube video we found which is a parody of Apple explaining that they are working to fix the mapping problems with iOS 6.

Apple's Big Day Is Here For The iPhone 5

Reports of lines in many countries show high demand for iPhone 5

Apple is going to be pretty much in control of the news cycle for the next few days. That is because the latest version of the iPhone, the iPhone 5, is going on sale. In some parts of the world it is already selling, such as Australia due to the time differences. We are going to be hearing about this for the day and once the 8:00 am time hits in the East Coast, there is going to be a lot more reporting on the first people to get the iPhone. Once that dies down late today, we are more than likely going to start hearing about situations where the iPhone 5 is sold out.

This will be a repeat of a year ago when the iPhone 4S was released and there were inventory issues which lasted for weeks. And we expect to see the same situation again. Except that lines are probably going to be longer and the inventory issues will be much worse. The inventory problems are probably going to last for about a month. That is just how popular the iPhone has become and how much in demand for the smart phone from Apple. And there is nothing that is going to deter that other than the saber rattling that Samsung is doing about LTE in the iPhone. Even that is not going to interrupt the sales which are going to be huge.

The only negative going on right now is with respect to the change that Apple did by replacing Google maps with Apple maps. This was included in iOS 6 which has been released already and there are a range of problems with how things are being displayed. This is from towns being listed in the wrong locations to a new airport which previously did not exist. Apple has responded with some statements, but other information has the developers in lock down to fix the problems. And that is the only way to get this done quickly.

Apple's latest iPhone has a number of new features in it and one is Passbook which is probably going to become a central part of the future for handling things electronically. For example, you can get an electronic ticket to attend MLB games in 4 US cities or get an electronic boarding pass instead of the paper ones. There are movie tickets and many other things which it can hold. And there is nothing to stop this from overshadowing the Google Wallet. Even without the iPhone having the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip, Apple still has the ability for mobile payments with Passbook.

No doubt there are other things which you believe are great features in the latest iPhone from Apple. It is all those who are loyal to Apple which makes their products desirable and this is just another example of that. Hopefully you have not been sitting in line and will be getting your iPhone after things settle down.

Apple Devices Become Target Of Hackers

Apple OS used to be considered safe from hackers.

As a fairy tale, there was once a computer operating system which no one dared or was able to hack into. It was magical in how it prevented those who had mischief in their hearts from gaining unauthorized access. That wonderful time last for many years. While that may have been virtually true, it has been all but shattered in recent years with hackers able to infect Apple computers. It has only been in recent months where Apple has reluctantly removed their claims for the Mac OS X saying it does not get viruses. That is a sad state for all the Apple diehards who have been somewhat removed from all the other problems which are being experienced on Windows PCs. That is not to say the Apple OS has not had problems, just that it has not had a lot of problems with viruses and spam.

Apple used to advertise this fact on their web site page, but it has been updated as reported by Naked Security in June. While there was nothing said by Apple with the change, it does tell just how bad things have become and the Mac OS is no longer considered as one difficult for hackers to gain access to. Much of that change is due to the growing popularity with much credit going to Steve Jobs.

And the virus problems are not limited to the computers and the iPhone is expected to have viruses by year end. And this is all due to the growth of their devices. Android has been experiencing problems for quite a while now, but we have not heard of too much related to the iPhone. That is going to change.

While Apple has been more successful than Android in keeping malicious software out of its mobile operating system, security firm Kaspersky reports it has seen an increase in malicious threats, and that Apple is not yet as advanced as Microsoft in its security systems.

If you own a Mac or iPhone, you need to take note of this change. And you can expect to see a rise in attacks against Apple products as the year continues. There are not too many products to prevent virus infections on Apple products as there are for Windows based products. This is more than likely going to be changing this year as companies move to fill the need to protect Apple products. If you are the owner of a MacBook or iPhone, you will need to watch for and consider purchasing a product to protect your device.

One of Apple's big selling points has now disappeared and is a sign of the times. Those who create viruses and spambots target devices which are very popular and Apple has done a great job of becoming very popular. Now they have to defend their products from viruses and spambots.

Google And Apple Finally Working To Solve Differences

It seems that Apple has been attacking Google indirectly by suing companies which are using the Android OS. The most recent case was the Apple v Samsung in which the verdict last week sided with Apple. It looks as if the Android OS is the intended target for Apple, but they have not gone after Google yet. And that may be the reason for reports (or rumors) of the 2 companies actually talking right now.

Much of the information is speculation and rumors with a little facts thrown it. But with all the lawsuits going on, these two need to figure out a way to resolve their differences and come to some sort of an agreement. The reports have Tim Cook and Larry Page talking about the patent disputes which relate to Apple and Google. This is based on an unnamed source about a phone conversation that the two had. While Apple has not directly sued Google, Google has gone after Apple based on patents they now own from the Motorola Mobility purchase. Apple is appealing a recent loss to Motorola Mobility in Washington.

All of this seems a little strange since Steve Jobs issued his willingness to have a thermonuclear war against Google. It seems that things are a little different at Apple now. The continuing lawsuits have to be costing the company a lot of money. And with Google now owning Motorola Mobility, they have a lot more leverage to protect themselves against Apple. And their recent suit against Apple is posing issues for Apple to defend. Though you never know where those things will end up. Just ask Samsung.

On the Motorola Mobility suit, it seems that Google was forced to file because of Apple's unwillingness to discuss licensing agreements. And that is more than likely an accurate statement. In the Apple v Samsung case, it came out that Samsung was trying to negotiate a licensing agreement and it never got very far. Seems that Apple may not be willing to sign licensing agreements. But that may now be changing and would help the entire industry if things could get resolved between Apple and Google.

While a possible settlement or agreement may be a long ways off, it does seem like a long shot. The current attitudes at Apple seem to indicate they are happy with the pot of money that they currently have and do not care about licensing agreements right now. That has been the trend there for a number of years. The only thing that will change that is a string of losses by Apple in various court cases here in the US and around the world. That might soften their attitudes and willingness to settle cases and obtain license agreements.

Given the growing smart phone markets, there is a lot of money involved. And there is a lot at stake with all the patents that each company has. In some respects this seems to look a little like a game of chicken to see who will be the first one to blink. Thus far, Apple has blinked the least. But, a threat by Samsung to sue Apple when the next iPhone comes out over LTE patents may start to change that. Thus far Apple's team of lawyers have been fairly successful. But if Samsung prevails in an LTE suit against Apple and possibly gets the iPhone 5 banned from sale, that could be huge. And it will force Apple to start taking licensing deals.

It seems that only mounting losses from lawsuits may be the only way to get these large companies to sit down and talk. What do you think?

Social Engineering Causes Apple To Open Door To Hacker

Hacker convinces Apple support to change user password allowing access.

We all want to believe that our online accounts are safe and as long as we put up good passwords, we can reasonably be protected. That works on the assumption that things are secure on the front end to stop hackers from attempting to figure out our passwords and account names. And for the most part, we are protected. The whole idea seems to run into trouble when hackers are able to gain access through the back end. This is the case when they are able to hack into a server which opens doors to other information. But we so often forget about the human element in our security. And that is exactly what broke down at Apple when they provided a password to a hacker pretending to be someone else.

This is action by Apple which points out the need for companies to protect themselves from Social Engineering where they convince a support person to give them access to someone's account. This is being reported by Forbes, PC World, Gizmodo and many others. It is making the rounds because of how a company which has been considered to be secure and secretive opened the door for unauthorized access of an account.

As is being reported, the iCloud account for Mat Honan was accessed after Apple provided the ability for the hacker to change the password. This has been documented on Mat's blog where he documents what happened. At then end of the post, he says that Apple tech support has admitted to giving the hacker access to his iCloud account. The hacker has actually contacted him to let him know what he was able to do. With these two pieces of information, he is convinced that Apple tech support succumbed to Social Engineering on the part of the hacker. In reality, this should have never happened because Apple did not force the hacker to confirm the two levels of authentication. They did not get any other information to confirm that the person on the phone was in fact Mat Honan. This is a huge break down in how security is handled.

We noticed that there was a problem with the @Gizmodo account in Twitter when we started seeing posts which in a lot of cases were inflammatory in nature. We wondered whether Gizmodo had been hacked at the time. And they were, but it was only a single account which was compromised. They were able to determine that fairly quickly and had Twitter block the account. But for Mat, the consequences of the hack were far worse.

The hacker wiped his iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air which presented some big problems for him. He was backing up everything to iCloud which he could not get into in order to recover the wipes. They got into his Google account as well making things very problematic for him. At this point, his ability to recover all the data is not looking good for him. He had done everything that he should have done to set things up with the appropriate security. He had relied on Apple and their iCloud service to protect his data. Those are the things that we all would consider and do. Not too much more any of us could have done.

We are all vulnerable to this kind of hacking effort. Having everything in a single location, such as with Apple, you could be subject to the same kind of situation as Mat. Apple wants you to have them back up all your Apple devices to iCloud. If someone can gain access, all of your information is now open to a hacker. In light of this security lapse by Apple, do we all now need to reconsider how we backup our information? Should we have one automated backup, such as iCloud, and another that is a manual process we instigate for backup to a different provider that cannot be accessed by a hacker? The answer to that is probably Yes given what has happened to May Honan.

It is time to reevaluate our backup strategies.

Apple Genius Commercials - No Longer A Steve Job's Company

Apple's recent commercials have not been received well by many.

The recent release of new Apple Genius commercials has many wondering exactly what is going on down in Cupertino. Previous Apple commercials for years would cause one to really think as they were always thought provoking. Going back to the famous 1984 commercial which I recently watched, Apple has had a long run of really great commercials. Each of them would get their point across in a very intelligent manner to the audience. The Apple versus Windows commercials were fun and enjoyable to watch. And all them were able to get their point across without resorting to child like advertising. This was the Steve Jobs way of communicating the message to the masses.

But the recent commercials centered around Apple Genius almost seem child like in there presentation. All of this never would have been done while Steve Jobs was in charge of the company. The message does show that the people who are considered to be true Apple Genius' really do come through and answer all questions related to Apple products. But the representation of average people as being inept and helpless has been seen by many to be almost insulting. In some reports, Apple has received a "D" for the new ads. And rightly so.

Even some who were involved in previous Apple ad campaigns are not pleased with these recent ones. Apple has always held people with some respect in their commercials, but these new ads seem to treat average people as being almost dumb and inept. Is that really the message that Apple wants to be sending with these ads?

"In past ads, Apple has shown "ordinary people doing extraordinary things," simply because Apple products are so easy to use. Now we have thick people who want to be better, but need a Genius to help. Not exactly flattering.

Apple has always shown the intelligent side of their users even while indicating that there is always something more to learn about their products. With some of these ads, they are showing people on the edge of being dumb. The airline video of someone having to put something together before the plan lands is just plain crazy. And making these bad ads even worse is the fact that they have been shown during the Olympics of all places. A huge audience to test market a new concept. For me, that concept has failed them horribly. And many have the same response to what Apple has put forth.

How do you feel about the new Apple Genius commercials?

App Store - What's In A Name?

For Apple, it appears to mean everything to them for their App Store.

Ever since Amazon came out with it's App Store, Apple has been at odds with them for name recognition and attempting to confuse the consumer public. Apple seems to be in a mindset of using the courts to protect their products and as such, they continue that activity against Amazon. All of this began back when Amazon created the AppStore for Android, which Apple objected to because of the similarity in the name. But when they dropped the "For Android", it changed this to the Amazon AppStore versus the Apple App Store. The similarity between the 2 names is too much for Apple.

Apple filed its complaint back in March of 2011 at the time that Amazon launched its Android store which they were calling "Amazon Appstore for Android". There was a lot of press about the competition which Amazon was creating between Google and itself. And that competition was sure to confuse consumers as to where to go and get Android Apps. The court filing by Apple seems to have gotten drowned out in all the focus between Amazon and Android.

Since that time, Apple has amended the complaint in November 2011 to expand it when Amazon dropped the "for Android" from their store name. You can see that on their site and elsewhere. It is with this change, that Apple became concerned about the blurring of the name to further confuse the public. Amazon and Apple both sell music and apps under very similar store names. The difference between AppStore and App Store may get lost for most of the population.

The similarities in the names has Apple concerned and they have done the normal method of attacking the competition through the courts. They do make some valid points in the current suit against Amazon. One is the logos that each is using. And if you look at each of them from each company for their app store, they do look somewhat similar, though lawyers would probably argue otherwise.

In the most recent court actions, Apple is asking Amazon to produce an executive who has knowledge of the name change. They want to find out the reasons behind the dropping of "for Android" from the name and grill them to see if the intent was to confuse consumers between Apple and Amazon.

"As such, evidence suggesting that the name of Amazon's Service is actually 'Amazon Appstore,' or at least that Amazon has consciously chosen to cease or minimize the use of 'for Android' with its mark, is highly relevant to Apple's offensive case," Apple said.

All of this gets down to what is in a name? For Apple, it is everything to them and may well mean lost sales to Amazon because of the similar name and logo being used by Amazon. Recent information suggests that Apple should be concerned about protecting their market and trademarks as well.

It seems that Amazon revenue per user as compared to Apple revenue per user in the app stores is way too close for Apple to be ignoring. While Apple is still the king for apps, Amazon is generating 89% of what Apple generates per user in the app store. And that number is too close for Apple and means they are potentially going to lose some business. Or even worse, defectors from the iPhone to Android smart phones. That is something which Apple has to do everything to protect. It is a battle which they must not lose.

For Apple, the name and logo for their App Store must be preserved to protect their interests, product lines and profit. While this is just another lawsuit to protect their interests, this one seems to be one which if they lose, could impact their future.

Mobile Phone Malware Is A Growing Problem

Malware on Android phones has now spread to the iPhone.

Malware for mobile devices has been a big problem, but it is expected to become an even bigger problem this year with the proliferation of smart phones. This has been the big problem for Android devices as the app store, Google Play, continues to serve up apps that are infected with Malware. Some of it is intentional and some is accidental. But what ever the case, the end result is the same for those who are infected as a result. All of this is becoming a much bigger problem as those who are doing this have a growing target market as the number of smart phones running Android continues to grow. It seems that the Android Malware problem just keeps rolling along.

According to a Tend Micro report, we can expect to see the growth of infected apps growing and they are predicting a "pandemic" by the end of year. And it is not just Google Play who is delivering these. Amazon's App Store for Android is another location where this happens, so you have to be very selective on what you pick to download. Even some reputable apps have been infected, but not by the developer, but others. It is making it tough to be downloading apps.

And if you think this is limited only to the Android OS, guess again. Apple is getting this problem as well. There are reports of a Trojan horse in the downloads from the app store. This was reported by well known security firm Kaspersky and was tied to an SMS app which has since been removed. Apple in the past has been known for not having malware and virus problems, but with this, it appears they have joined the rest of the world in having to deal with malware.

So, where does that leave you? The issues with mobile devices are not much different than with a computer. Know your sources of downloads. In the case of Google Play, that makes it very difficult because Google is supposed to be filtering out all the bad apps before the public downloads them. At the moment, they are still working to improve that situation. Things which are free to download are generally the ones where you might get malware on your mobile device. Purchased apps are generally far safer and are less likely to cause your problems. Note the "less likely" as developer apps sometimes get infected without the developers knowledge.

Give that Apple has suffered a Trojan horse issue from the app store, we can expect them to step up efforts to protect their customers even more. Google is going to have to really step up efforts. For that matter, any centralized app store which provides downloads is going to have to make them safe. Do not download apps from web sites that you are not confident in. Some are set up quickly solely for the purpose of infecting mobile devices.

Given events this year, we should start to see far more effort put into providing antivirus and malware software which can run on mobile devices. Once these are out in greater numbers, it will be up to the individual to download and install from reputable sources. Go with the well known names and not some company you have never heard of because it is cheap. Remember, you are protecting your information and with smart phones, more of it is being saved there. The Cloud is now coming into play to store your information from your mobile devices.

Things are changing fast, but malware is going to be around for a long time. Be prepared to protect yourself and your mobile device.

Patent Infringement Cases In The news

Battles between Samsung and Apple around the world.

It seems that this year has been taken up with news of patent infringement cases between Apple and Samsung around the world. And things do not look like they are going to be letting up anytime soon. These battles have been going on between the two at the same time they are doing business with each other. Samsung supplies chips to Apple for their popular mobile devices. And yet they have chosen to attack each other over patents and patent infringements around the globe. Most of this can be seen because of Samsung’s growth in mobile devices which is threatening Apple.

Last week, there were a number of things going on between these two. One was a decision by a court in the Netherlands where they ruled that Apple infringed on a 3G patent held by Samsung. Samsung only got the ruling on 1 of 4 patents which they were claiming Apple had infringed on. They had hoped for much more than that. This ruling is in opposition to one in Germany last March where the court there ruled that Apple did not infringe on the exact same patent. How this difference gets worked out is unknown.

The big case between Apple and Samsung is the one in Northern California which is currently scheduled to be heard by a jury on July 30th. The judge in the case, Judge Koh, has restricted the number of exhibits by each party to 125 exhibits which can be presented in court. She has also restricted each party to no more than 25 hours of arguments before the court. It is hoped that this will force both parties to focus on the strengths of their case and not burden the court with unnecessary information. This particular case, when decided, will bear heavily on settlement talks between the two companies. All of this comes after court mandated settlement discussions failed.

Patent infringement cases have become problematic and are now being seen as a way to stop or slow your competition. In the case of Apple, Samsung’s successes are threatening Apple’s product lines. This is especially true with recent Samsung products, such as the Galaxy S3. At some point, the way that patent infringement cases are handled is going to have to change as it ties up the courts and the decisions are slow to come.

In the end, these cost consumers as the legal costs are passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

Patent Infringement Suits Force Lawyers Involvement In Design

Are lawyers becoming part of the design process for smart phones?

 
We have been hearing about the on going war between Samsung and Apple over patent infringements between the two companies. This has been happening all over the world between the 2 companies. And in a strange twist, Samsung still provides Apple with components for their devices. All of this has seen a lot of injunctions being filed between the two companies and most recently a court ordered mediation in California between the companies in an effort to settle the long running dispute. Apple has claimed on multiple occasions that Samsung has literally "copied" their technology and designs to create the Samsung models we are seeing. It is those kinds of claims which cause legal departments to inject themselves into the creative process.

And that may well be the case with the recently announced Samsung Galaxy S3 which was announced this past week. While it appears that Samsung (S Voice) has been adding features which mimic what Apple has provided on the iPhone (Siri), the actual design, or shape, of the phone has changed from what we might have expected. It raises the question of why Samsung would have made a design change and it did not leak out to match the final product. All of this may be explained because the Galaxy S3 was designed by lawyers or so goes a great article at Android Police where they lay out the facts and draw the conclusions. Given the growing spate of lawsuits we are seeing around the world, it does not surprise us that lawyers have been involved in the design of a smart phone.

So Samsung, was it worth it? Your product won't sell as well, but you won't piss off one of your biggest component customers either. I understand the motivation, but I still feel like you've sold your soul.

Back in April of 2011, Apple filed a laundry lists of infringements made by Samsung for their smart phones which were taken from the iPhone. While that is a legal matter, the article takes to task a number of specific items listed in the infringements and lays out how Samsung made sure to not tread on them in the latest Galaxy S3. And for each item, they show just what lengths Samsung supposedly went to so as to avoid the listed items and protect them from further patent infringement claims from Apple. Will this be enough to stop infringement claims against Samsung? Probably not, as companies bring out an army of lawyers for more than patent infringement, but to attempt to hold off the competition.

While you may not believe the claims that lawyers designed the Galaxy S3, there is evidence that they were involved in the process. The rounded corners of the phone are far difference from the Galaxy S II and do not add to the design of the phone. Instead they take away from the smart phone look. When I first saw the phone, I thought something looked strange about it and soon realized they have rounded the corners in a strange way. After reading the story about the lawyers designing the phone to avoid more suits, I realized what was so strange. The rounders corners at the top are different than the rounded corners at the bottom. It is that difference that seems to make the phone look funny. And, it addresses one of the infringement complaints from Apple back in April 2011.

The other item the story revealed was that the space above and below the touch screen was not the same. The vast majority of phones have the top and bottom area of the phone being exactly the same size. The Android Police article is suggesting the difference is to satisfy the lawyers so as to not infringe on Apple's claims from previous smart phones from Samsung. And that may well be the case as it does not add to the phone, but rather takes away from how it looks. The top area is 16% smaller than the bottom area and that is enough to throw the eyes off when looking at the phone. The only plausible explanation for this is because the lawyers wanted to make sure to not repeat the designs which Apple is complaining about.

Given Steve Job's design extremes for perfection, this one would have driven him crazy. Looking at it continues to bother me and that is not a good thing. I was very hopeful that Samsung would deliver a fantastic product and take a larger share of the smart phone market. With this most recent design, it appears they have missed the mark which may cost them some sales in the end. They have opened the door for Apple and the iPhone 5 which is a mistake.

It sure does look like the lawyers had a definite hand in the design process for the Galaxy S3. Do you believe the lawyers influenced the final design of the Galaxy S3?

iPhone Rumor Mill - Will It Ever End?

When it comes to rumors, the iPhone is King

When it comes to rumors being spread about a product, it is the Apple iPhone which consumes everyone's attention with what the coming iPhone might contain. The day after the iPhone 4S came out, there were already rumors about what the next one would contain and when it might be available for everyone. Some of the ongoing rumors for the coming iPhone are almost certain to become part of the next iPhone solely because that is what the rest of the industry is doing. As an example, quad core phones are expected to be the norm in a few months and the iPad has the A5X processor in it. Given that the next iPhone is expected to arrive in the fall, we can assume that it will contain a quad core processor.

And the rumors are all over the place with what may or may not be included in the coming iPhone. Some are very believable because we expect to see certain things. Others are the type of wouldn't it be nice to have. And some are the kind of never going to see, but I would love to have. Here are some examples of what is going around:

Screen Size

• iPhone coming with a 3.5 inch screen. (iPhone 4S size)


• iPhone coming with a 3.7 inch screen


• iPhone coming with a 4 inch screen


• iPhone with reduced bezel for larger screen

Chips

• Texas Instruments producing "power management chips"


• 4G LTE phone


• Quad Core Processor


• LTE on Quad Core Processor

Other Rumors

• Integrated SIM cards

There are so many more rumors than this, such as one which had the iPhone coming with a curved back. These things just seem to keep coming. There is even a rumor being circulated that Apple has applied for a patent on a glass phone. We know that it would not be made of actual glass, but rather plastic or some other material. The idea of a clear phone where you can see all the components is an interesting idea. There are reports of the iPhone coming in Q2 and not in Q3 as is widely expected. We went through that rumor mill last year with the iPhone 4S, which if Apple had followed their normal process would have been announced in June. That came and went and in the end, it was September. I am not sure people really care all that much about it launching in June. They are more interested in whether it will have a 4 inch screen or not.

But it seems that many of the rumors we have been hearing are either too far out on what we could consider to be the fringes of what it might contain, to those that we have been hearing for so long, we just assume they are going to be included. It is as if we are approaching overload because the rumors just don't ever seem to stop and that may be part of the problem. The biggest rumor over the past few weeks is the screen size because all the other are ones which have been heard before or we just do not care about that much, such as the docking component changing on the iPhone. After a while you get down to "so what".

Some are calling the rumors of the coming iPhone to be a snoozefest and that may be on the mark. Some of what we are expecting to see are the same items we were expecting to see on the iPhone which was released last fall. Since we have been hearing about those before the last iPhone, there is not too much expectation for anything which is all that new in the rumor mill. We have heard about 4G LTE, quad core processor, possibly larger screen size and a new shape for the iPhone with a reduced bezel. That does not leave too many new rumors to be talked about.

Do you think we have heard all there is to hear in the rumor mill for the coming iPhone?

Apple iPad Problems Stacking Up

Problems with the new iPad just seem to keep popping up in the news

Since the release of the latest Apple iPad, it seems that one problem after another has been reported and is not looking good for Apple. In some respects, it reminds one of problems when companies push something out too quickly and then have to spend time cleaning up the problems. That is in the the public eye and Apple historically has delivered very good hardware and software which has become the standard for many in the industry. Could it be that the are losing that stature?

Heating iPads

One of the more publicized problems with the iPad has been the heat which it generates. The reports are many and one of the most damming is one from Consumer Reports where they found the new iPad operating at temperatures of up to 116 degrees while playing games. This is in direct opposition to statements by Apple. Those statements, as reported by All Things D, have Apple saying that the iPad is "Operating well within our thermal specifications". Whether 116 degrees is operating within "thermal specifications" is for others to speak to. But with that heat, you do feel it if it is on your lap. While it may not be much worse than some laptops, coming from Apple is a surprise.

Not Charging While Playing Games

There are reports where the iPad is not charging when playing games and it is really much bigger than that. It appears that any CPU intensive app which is running, including most games, will not continue to charge the iPad while the CPU intensive processes are going on. During those time, the battery is being drained just as fast as it is being charged. Thus a stalemate and the status quo of the battery remains as is. It could be worse and the battery continues to drain, but the issue of having a charger attached and not having the battery life increasing is a concern.

Other Battery Replated Items

From Information Week comes reports of problems with charging the battery on the new iPad. One item says that if the iPad is connected to a USB 2.0 port, it will not charge. If you are using your new iPad while the charger is plugged in, it charges very slowly if at all.

In another report from 9 to 5 Mac, they are reporting problems with the charging of the battery. It appears that after the battery indicator shows 100%, that the iPad continues to charge the battery. According to the article, once you see the 100% indicator, it takes another hour to completely charge the iPad. Could this be due to the much larger battery?

WiFi Problems

There are reports of WiFi problems on the latest iPad as well. Complaints about WiFi issues have been growing and were also part of issues with the iPad 2. It seems that the connectivity issues this time around are worse than with previous models. While the iPhone 4S is not having these issues, the new iPad is. This is primarily related to signal strength and the dropping of signals. Either of these make it problematic to use.

LTE And Excessive Data Usage

While not directly an Apple problem, there are growing complaints of people exceeding their data plans while using the iPad's 4G LTE data connection. Streaming comes with almost no effort and in a matter of days, you can use up an entire months worth of your data plan. These reports are growing, but the big one is going to be when owners get their wireless bills. That is when many are going to find out about overage charges on the new tiered data plans which AT&T and Verizon are offering. That is going to become the big store by the end of May.

In Summary

While some issues can be fixed with software updates, some of these cannot. The one item which is not easily fixed is that of reputation. While having a great reputation for releasing quality products, the latest iPad product is threatening Apple's long standing reputation. There are other complaints related to the iPad and some not directly impacting the iPad but part of bigger issues. The latest one is iTunes downloads where anything larger than 15 MB is resulting in an error. It is the growing list of issues which really seems to indicate that Apple released this product before it was ready.

What do you think?

Amazon Invades The Tablet Market

Tablet Trending

For all of 2010 and 2011, Apple has been in total control of the tablet market share around the globe and there has not been a significant challenger which could be taken seriously. That is until Amazon made a decision to enter the marketplace. Prior to that, all of the other tablet manufacturers were not seen as a threat to Apple and their dominance of the market which they created. There were many who were seeing 2011 as being the year of the tablet, but that has definitely not been the case and it is starting to look like 2012 may become the Year of the Tablet. With the entry of Amazon and their Kindle Fire, they have invaded an area which has been dominated by Apple and are now threatening that dominance.

Amazon had zero market share when they entered the 4th quarter of 2011 and went from nothing to having a 14% market share in not even a full quarter. Shipping 3.9 million Kindle Fire tablets beginning in November, they have grabbed a sizable market share, though there a some who believe they are not going to impact the iPad. That view is short sided as Amazon has found the one area which a majority of consumers seem to be interested in and that is price. By coming to market with a $199 tablet, they have broken the previous market model which had everything beginning at $399 and up. That has forever changed and now everyone has to look at where the market is going in relation to a $199 price line. Continuing rumors of a smaller iPad show just how much things have changed and how believable a smaller & cheaper iPad could be.

One would think that Samsung would have a far better market share than they currently do, especially considering the way that Apple has been trying to get injunctions against Samsung in countries around the world. With what appears to be their tablet of the month club, Samsung has been announcing tablet after tablet trying to find the spot where consumers look at Samsung as the first choice. With only 8% of the market share and behind Amazon, they have their work cut out for them. This again points to the idea of a cheaper tablet as being the way of the future to generate tablet sales.

Amazon is rumored to be working on an 8.9 inch tablet and a 10 inch tablet. If those rumors are accurate and they deliver larger sizes with the aggressive pricing that they did on the Kindle Fire, there could be another market shift where Amazon moves up to 30% market share in the 3rd or 4th quarter. If that were to happen, Apple would lose their greater than 50% market share and be seen as a big problem. If there is a way for Apple to prevent that from happening, it would be with the iPad Mini which has been rumored. If not, the current trending looks like Apple is going to continue to lose market share.

What do you think? Is Apple in danger of losing their current control of the tablet market?




The above chart comes from Statista.com