Mobile: Nokia Trips Up, Blbackberry Users Ashamed

Not great news for Nokia or RIM fans.

First, Nokia's Lumia sales has dropped off the cliff.  Now, we can attribute that to pinned up Windows Phone 8 demand.  I'll buy that but I cannot think that there is much room in the market that Nokia can pick up from the iPhone and Android.

Then there's Blackberry users who are reportedly being shamed by iPhone and Android users.  I don't get why.  Sure, RIM sales are dismal and may never recover even with the release of Blackberry OS 10.  However, who else on the market still market and sell devices with physical keyboards en mass?  I think it's an unique experience in a mobile market dominated by full-touch screened devices like the iPhone.

Back to Nokia.  It's continuing fall isn't a bad thing unless you're a Nokia fan.  If you're a Windows Phone fan, it could be that good days are coming.  Yes, above, I said Nokia may not have much room to move above but it doesn't mean that Windows Phone cannot.  Other device makers like HTC ans Samsung will be coming out with WP devices that has specs to rival Android devices.

And this is a multi-year and multi-front fight for Microsoft so Windows Phone will have an impact on the market.

So, maybe the thing here for all concerned is that RIM should consider embracing Windows Phone instead of its next gen Blackberry OS?

Election: Get Used To It, Tagg. If Your Dad Wins, Expect Worse Things Said About Mitt

So here's how it went down.  Tagg did not like that the President of the United States, leader of the world stood up to his challenger who has been willing to say anything to get himself into the White House.

Again, I'm a conservative but I simply cannot vote against someone, in this case the President, without have a reason to vote for the other guy, Mitt whose job the last decade is running for the position of POTUS.  I just want to get out that of the way.  And yes, the Obama campaign has been vicious themselves.

It's the nature of American politics.  But to have a member of a family of one of the candidate public state that he would like to attack the other guy for attacking his father is just something that has never happen before.  And what's also stupid is that Tagg should know this would go viral in the age of Facebook, Youtube, and other social media platforms.

Hey, it's great that a son would like to stand up to his father but looking at Tagg, we know the dude is all words.

So, Tagg.  You ain't see nuthin' yet.  Over the next couple of weeks as the two campaigns race to the finish line, it'll get worse.  On top of that, should your dad (God help us all if it happens), gets into the White House, it will be much, much worse than anything you've seen before.

Just so you know, you made your whole family look foolish, Tagg, because you ain't man enough do what you said you'd do.  You said you couldn't because of the Secret Service guys around.  Seriously, that's what's stopping you, dude?

No.  That's not what's stopping you.  What's stopping you is the fact that you're full of it and nothing like your dad.  Just another rich spoiled kid who cannot back up his words.  If you want to show you've got game, talk about the details that are still missing in your dad's economic plan.  Tell us how it all hinges on the hope that there will be an economic recovery to make up for the tax cuts and increase spending.

Of course, leave out the fact that if the economy doesn't recover as fast as your dad insists, our deficit will increase much more than anything Obama has put us through.  Make sure that doesn't get caught on camera.

Halloween Trailer: Evil Dead (Yup, Gonna Have Nightmares Now)

Source:  We Got This Covered.

Here's the trailer for Evil Dead.  Don't watch if you plan on sleeping, regardless if whether you'll have the lights on or off.  And in that spirit, I'm gonna post a scary trailer up through Halloween just to get everyone into a ghoulish spirit.

Again, this is a very mucho freaky trailer.

Original Video- More videos at TinyPic

According this to this MTV article, this is worse than just any plain old rated-r movie. And a quick search shows that other sites agree that there is a lot of blood.

Sleep well...

Mobile: How Apple Can Price the Low-End iPad Mini At $200

I like to see Apple price the iPad mini at $200.  Of course, it doesn’t mean that Apple will do it.  If it has cause and it can do so without sacrificing the margin (which seems rather unlikely), then I am sure Tim Cook will do it.  But that’s not why I’m writing this post.

I want to get into see how Apple “can” find a way to price the iPad mini with 8 GB storage at $200 and really make Christmas for Amazon, Google, or anyone else in the tablet realm a really, really bad one to remember.

First, there is the massive supply chain that Apple has built up over the years.  And it’s not just parts that Apple has sourced and hogged so that others have to wait until it has had its fill before they get their own turn.  It’s also about how Apple has depressed the cost of components that allow it to price the iPad at $500 when it was introduced in 2010 and not at $1,000.  And it’s been a couple years since the original iPad debut.  So costs has come down quite a bit.

On top of that, Apple has generously financed some manufacturing equipments and factories for partners that would enable it to get what it needs and at much better prices than its competitors.  Do you see or hear this happen for Microsoft, Google, or HTC?  Maybe only Samsung can match Apple to some extent.

Now, let’s move onto the media revenue that Apple is likely to generate from this.  Last year, when Apple put on the iBooks event with textbooks as an emphasis, the main issue was which would come first – digital textbooks sales or iPads.  You know, the chicken or the eggs?  You can’t have digital textbook sales if there are not enough iPads in the hands of students.  And you cannot have enough iPads if each costs $500 at the time.  You can get an iPad 2 at $400 now but there’s nothing like trying to get them in the hands of students at $200.

And if the low-end iPad mini does sell for $200, look for an explosion in iTunes media sales where Apple has an ecosystem that is unmatched.  eBooks, music, video, and apps will give Apple an even bigger stream of revenue than ever before.  Of course, this is all before Apple’s own television plan comes to fruition.  There could be another stream of revenue that could allow Apple to make up for selling the iPad mini at a lower price.

Are we done?  Absolutely not.  Other iOS hardware sales continue to break records.  iPhone 5 demand is supposedly double that of the iPhone 4S but don’t think the iPhone 4 and the 4S aren’t going to pad some of Apple’s margins.

The updated iPod touch and iPod lines should continue to bring in a few billion dollars in cash from both hardware and media sales.

Then there’s the iPad.  I’m sure by now, Apple has managed to lower the per cost of each iPad built and may also reflect that at the iPad mini event with some redesigns.  It’s likely Apple has managed to bring down the costs of the Retina Display.  Obviously, that means better margins on the new iPads as well.

But I’m not done.  Mac sales are continue forward with Asia, particularly the Greater China zone (China, Hong Kong, Taiwan), showing no slowdown in their appetites for Apple’s computers.  And the premium that the high-end Macbook Pro with Retina Displays are bring in, it just pads everything for Apple.

Then there’s the new cables and adapters that Apple is making everyone buy when they switched over from the 30-pin adapters to the newer Lightning adapters.  Don’t think that Apple is making and selling them at reasonable price. No way.

So, when you add all that together, we can see just Apple can price the low-end iPad mini at $200.  There isn’t much history with Tim Cook as Apple’s CEO with respect to pricing so we don’t know if he’ll go for the kill or show off some of that Apple swagger and price the mini at $250.  After all, this is an Apple product and it demands some sort of a premium over competing devices on the market.

I’m thinking it’ll be the latter.  Perhaps, Apple might go with $220 just to make a statement to the market.

Kickstarter: A Robot You Can Fall In Love With Now

Source:  Venturebeat.

Here's an adorable robot that you can fall in love with just as you do with your pets.  As soon as you support the Kickstarter program and it goes into production.

Check it out. It's like a little rover with an iOS device as its brain, your iPhone or iPod touch.  I'm sure you've got plenty just sitting around from your recent iPhone 5 upgrade.  Stick that into Romo, that's the name of the robot, and off you go.

You can control it with your iOS devices including the iPad or the Mac.

This is the second coming of the Romo and its 10x smarter and better.  Well, that's what the company Romotive, folks behind Romo, promises.  Also, it'll have telepresence (which I'm sure means vid chat), navigates on its own, and facial recognition.

Check out the video and then click over to pledge.  I've done it already!  Woohoo!

Social: Facebook, You Suck! (Facebook Allows Loopholes To Expose Personal Details

This a must read post on how a couple of kids had their inequalities exposed by Facebook even though they did everything humanly possible to protect themselves.  Regardless of what you think about homosexuality, this isn't a post about that.

Rather, it's about social networks, specifically Zucker's Facebook, to continue "zuck" its users over time by shifting privacy goal line by giving the illusion of providing users with more controls while leaving loopholes on others.

For instance, if a friend tags you in a photo, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it.  And anyone can just decide to sign you up for a group without your explicit consent.  And the news of that will be open for all your friends and family to see.

That is the basis for a couple of college students who were outed by Facebook when someone enrolled them in a gay chorus.

It's a must read post regarding the shady practices that Facebook uses to screw and put a dollar sign on its users.

Source:  Yahoo.

FBI Issues Android Warning - Provides Recommendations for Users

Source:  Fortune, IC3.

The FBI has issue what appears to be a very fire warning regarding Android OS and the description of the malware is scaring the crap out of me. 

Ouch.  Big ouch.

Maybe this is a case to be made for buying only from Google and embracing the Nexus brand rather than Amazon, Barnes & Noble, HTC, or Samsung. 

In the press release, the G-men has a list of recommendations to follow when getting an Android device. 

• When purchasing a Smartphone, know the features of the device, including the default settings. Turn off features of the device not needed to minimize the attack surface of the device.
• Depending on the type of phone, the operating system may have encryption available. This can be used to protect the user's personal data in the case of loss or theft.
• With the growth of the application market for mobile devices, users should look at the reviews of the developer/company who published the application.
• Review and understand the permissions you are giving when you download applications.
• Passcode protect your mobile device. This is the first layer of physical security to protect the contents of the device. In conjunction with the passcode, enable the screen lock feature after a few minutes of inactivity.
• Obtain malware protection for your mobile device. Look for applications that specialize in antivirus or file integrity that helps protect your device from rogue applications and malware.
• Be aware of applications that enable Geo-location. The application will track the user's location anywhere. This application can be used for marketing, but can be used by malicious actors raising concerns of assisting a possible stalker and/or burglaries.
• Jailbreak or rooting is used to remove certain restrictions imposed by the device manufacturer or cell phone carrier. This allows the user nearly unregulated control over what programs can be installed and how the device can be used. However, this procedure often involves exploiting significant security vulnerabilities and increases the attack surface of the device. Anytime a user, application or service runs in "unrestricted" or "system" level within an operation system, it allows any compromise to take full control of the device.
• Do not allow your device to connect to unknown wireless networks. These networks could be rogue access points that capture information passed between your device and a legitimate server.
• If you decide to sell your device or trade it in, make sure you wipe the device (reset it to factory default) to avoid leaving personal data on the device.
• Smartphones require updates to run applications and firmware. If users neglect this it increases the risk of having their device hacked or compromised.
• Avoid clicking on or otherwise downloading software or links from unknown sources.
• Use the same precautions on your mobile phone as you would on your computer when using the Internet.

We’ll be back later to commend on the significance of this press release.  The feds don’t do these kinds of things unless they know something is up.  Just last week, the SecDef (Secretary of Defense) in his party suit gave a dire warning about cyber attacks and the media is all over the latest volley of bank attacks from Tehran.

It’s not likely this is related but more about privacy and identity thefts but you cannot discount just how bad things are out there now and how much worse it could get.