Displaying items by tag: iOS

On Saturday we published an editorial about some of the issues with Windows RT. These issues served to highlight why Microsoft might have chosen to build their own tablet. Although we do not agree with the decision and think that it will hurt Microsoft in the long run (with Windows RT) we cans still see how it all unfolded. As you might imagine not everyone saw things the way that we did, but what surprised me was a comment that seemed to indication that the development community was going to HAVE to write for Windows RT.

When this one first hit we did not jump into the mix with the rest of the sites pushing a statement that Apple’s servers were corrupting new versions of apps pushed up to the iTunes App Store. Now, things are a little different as Apple has acknowledged the issue and is working on a fix. The issue seems to revolve around an update to Apple’s DRM software Fairplay.

Apple has lost another VP of Hardware this time to retirement. Bob Mansfield, how replaced Mark Papermaster (you know him, he is at AMD now) in 2010 is retiring after being with Apple since 1999. Bob has been the lead of iPhone and iPad hardware since 2010, but before that he was in charge of dealing with Mac hardware (beginning in 2005).

Facebook has finally bought facial recognition company Face.com. For those of you that do not know Face.com are the people behind the facial recognition API in Facebook and their Apps for both iOS and Android. This technology (that is also used in a few other apps) has brought about a wave of privacy concerns (as is tagging of any kind really). It is known that Face.com stores face information in a database and is capable up dating facial information as more pictures of an individual are tagged. This can be used to create a very accurate likeness model of someone regardless of what they do to change or conceal their appearance (with the exception of radical plastic surgery or prosthetics).

Steve Wozniak is back in the news again and talking about Apple’s products this time he is complaining about Siri. It seems that he feels Apple messed up the service when they purchased it and tried to make it their own. In an interview Wozniak is actually quoted as saying “A lot of people say Siri. I say poo-poo”

Microsoft is making a “super-secret” announcement on Monday and it has already invited select members of the press… Wait a minute does this sound familiar to anyone else? Sorry we had a momentary flash back to some of Apple’s announcements. In fact it this this similarity that makes many people believe that the show on Monday June 18^th will be the official show for Windows RT (and a Microsoft made tablet).

It is no secret that we are not fond of the direction that Microsoft is moving in with Windows 8. The new operating system with its phone and touch based MetroUI is a step back from what many feel a Windows system is supposed to be. What many wonder is why this push of the MetroUI and the cloud services that are linked to it.

Do you remember the Facebook phone rumors that ran around the internet? There were articles both for and against a phone that centered on the social networking (and often privacy intruding) giant. I personally do not think it would be a good idea or that it will go over well with many consumers in the US (Europe is another matter though). However, when we talked with Paul Amsellem, CEO of Mobile Network Group, he mentioned that one of the things that Facebook would need to do is develop a better mobile payments system…

Someone has made a rather bold prediction about Windows Phone. According to the International Data Corp Windows Phone will grab some 14% market share between now and 2016 to become the second most used Mobile Operating system. Now it might interest you to know that this bit of insight also predicts that Android will hit its peak of market share this year and slowly decline. It will maintain the number one spot, but with only about 53%.

Sometimes things just do not go your way. Apple has been seeing that recently under the guidance of new CEO Tim Cook. We are not going to get into the debate about whether Tim Cook is a better or worse CEO as that is comparing Apples to Oranges. Tim Cook is a different type of CEO; he is a businessman first and foremost. It was one of the reasons that Steve Jobs wanted him in the position he was in. The company needed someone to “mind the back account” more than almost anything else.