Social: Girl Goes Nuts At Coffee Shop And Was Unable To Control Her Telekinetic Powers

You've got to see this!!!  There are those among us who have abilities beyond what's confined by physical laws and, you know, whatever.

You've got to see this to!

When Siri First Learned She Was Herself - Meet The Woman Who Gave Voice To Siri

I wasn't not aware of this but with iOS 7, the voice of Siri has changed.  It's too bad but again, I couldn't tell.  However, Susan Bennett does.  See, she's the original voice of Siri.  And for the longest time since 2005 on July days in Atlanta, she recorded voices that would later be known to millions for those who iPhones and iPads and even to those who don't.

Siri has become a social icon and we have Bennett to thank for that.  Here's more on CNN.

Nike Fuel Band Event Set - Going Up Against Possible Apple iPad Event?

Nike is hosting an event to unveil it's second generation Nike Fuelband, which I'm am a fan of (Redmond Pie).  That and in of itself is nothing to get all that excited about given that the American public has a weight issues and are more comfortable being couch potatoes, but rather the date of the event:  October 15th.

October 15th is one of the two days that are likely to be used by Apple to host its iPad unveiling.  The second one is October 22nd (On Apple).

Here's the thing.  It's unlikely that Nike takes its cue from Cupertino so it sets its unveiling date any day it's pleased.  Having said that, Apple and Nike are good partners and likely in close consultation.

If both companies unveil their products on the same day, I can tell you whose products are going to get a lion share of the attention from bloggers and the public at large.

Assuming that both companies have spoken and worked out their schedules, October 22nd would likely be the day Apple unveils the latest and greatest iPads.  The 4th generation iPad was unveiled on October 23nd, 2012 and went on sale ten days later on November 2nd.

And if the October 22nd is the Apple event, the iPad will probably go on sale on November 1st.  Also ten days later.

App Stores Becoming Incubators For Mobile Players

It was just announced that Apple bought Cue (Appleinsider), a Google Now-like service.  It occurred to me that the app stores, whatever you call them, have for years been a sort of service incubators for mobile players.

Siri bought by Apple.  Bump by Google.  Google also bought an office suite or two like Quick Office.  I seem to recall that both Microsoft and Samsung have also dipped into the app store and plucked out an app maker or two.  Both Apple and Google have bought map app makers too.

Even Facebook, a mobile player of sort but not a mobile platform/device maker, even went into the app store and bought out Instagram for $1 billion.

More of this is going to happen in the years to come as competition in the mobile space as well as the future of computing in general continue to become a bigger and bigger slug-match among these cash rich tech and platform companies.

So, if you're an app maker or is considering it, keep this in mind.  Selling to mobile users is great but getting bought out because your service or app is so freaking awesome that Apple or Google finds you irresistible is even better.

Samsung Caught Cheating But Issued "Nu-Uh" Response. Does It Matter? Yes

Does it matter that Samsung is cheating on benchmarks for its Galaxy Note 3?  No.  Not to me since I assumed that they did, would, and will.  And I've not cancelled my Verizon Galaxy Note 3 order.  However, the question many are asking and taking sides on is whether this matters that they're cheating or not.

And the answer is absolutely it matters.  And this is why so far, Apple and Motorola/Google (Macrumors) has not gone into the benchmark game.

Most of us don't buy our smartphones or tablets based on just benchmarks.  Okay, in the past, some of us might make that decision to go with a certain PC maker or customization based on that.  However, most of today's mobile devices does not allow chip or memory customization like the PC market.

So, being able to claim on a benchmark test that could be important to some device makers, especially Samsung because it is facing public relations pressure because if patent issues, copying issues, and competition from the likes of not just Apple but other Android device makers like LG, Sony, and Google.

And coming out first is very important to them.  And if you were force to pick whether you trust Samsung's words (BGR) or that of tech sites like Arstechnica (post on Samsung's cheating), I'll take the tech guys any given day.

Furthermore, given that Apple's iPhone 5s sports a 64-bit chip architecture which gives Apple a head start in the next stage of mobile chip race and experience, Samsung probably found itself having to respond in mind.

And being able to say that you've got the fastest device makes it easier for the marketing guys to sell it to the public.

I'm not sure where Samsung's insecurity is coming from. They're the biggest phone maker in the world in terms of market share.  It's unlikely anyone will come close any time soon.  And the Galaxy brand is right up there with the iPhone.

The benchmark scandal, if that, will only confuse the issue for its fans.  And the public is not going to care one way or another if one device is a bit faster than another.  What they will be irked about is stories about cheating.

Social: Path Spams Users, It's Not Okay And It'll Happen Again

Source:  Media Post.

I used to be a Path user and supporter after all the privacy-busting moves that Facebook made to rape every bit of information and pictures its users uploaded in the name of making a buck.  It's outrageous and I stopped using it and found Path.

However, I've become disenchanted with it after a series of moves to increase users.  Mostly through unethical means like spam-texting an user's contacts.

If you don't know what Path is, and it's likely you don't, it's a private social network that limits you to a specific number of users in order to make sure that your timeline doesn't become a while orgy of people praising whatever deity they worship, pics of their babies, or whatever has been annoying users on Facebook.  And oh, there's no ads and it appears there probably won't be.  Path makes money through value-added services and products like stickers.

But it's no Facebook.  So, in trying to increase the number of users, Path took questionable and ethically challenging "paths" to spam users who share their contact list on their iPhone or Android device.  It's just wrong.

Even not legal.  And there are lawsuits pending to determine that.

But I get the feeling that this will not be the end of it and Path will not be the last ones to try this.  The fact of the matter, like many things that companies will try to win users over or make money in general, is that unless the punishment is so severe and outweigh the risk of fines or backlashes, they'll give it a go.

When caught, they'll try to explain away their actions.  Say that others are doing it or that there's a loophole for them to do the unethical but not illegal things.  Or apologize and backtrack and try again when they think no one is looking.  Facebook is famous for trying this.  Change privacy policies on the fly or claim ownership of pics or other bits of information users share. Then when there is a backlash, they'll feign misunderstanding and explain away their actions.

They chip and chip away a bit at a time.  And unfortunately, the users allow it to happen.

Mobile: Blackberry Tells Wall Street What Main Street Already Knows But Was Surprised Anyway

The title of the post didn't quite get it.  Essentially, Blackberry is in a lot worse shape than they thought.  Worse than Wall Street expected as well.  Essentially, things are unraveling at a rate that Blackberry had not expected and the pace is picking up as customers look else where for their mobile fixes.

How's this to wake up to.  A $400 million charge out of its cash reserve, which Blackberry is burning through rather quickly, is 4x the expensive it thought it would cost to cut about 40% of its workforce.  Essentially, someone screwed up majorly.

It also says that the company could be worth less than what the Canadian insurance/financial company, Fairfax Financial, is paying for with the deal valued at $4.7 billion.  As of this moment, Blackberry has dipped below $4 billion.

The worrying thing is the defection.  I know this feeling as I expected it as an Apple fan back in the late 90s when many around me, particular the university environment which I was working in, began hooking up HP PCs in labs, replacing the rooms and rooms of Macs that were there before.  And while some of the professors and post-docs remained true, the departments were beginning to save money by going with cheaper Windows options.

Unfortunately for Blackberry, the smartphone market and is current situation is vastly more different than the one that Apple faced.  While Windows 95 and 98 had their issues, Apple was still able to convince enough of its fans that it can turn things around.  Sure, the Macs then were not that great but they were still enough to make us stick around.  And then, of course, Steve Jobs came back to Apple.

For Blackberry, the alternatives to Blackberry was not like Macs and Windows PC.  The iPhones and Androids are very good.  Not to mention that Windows Phone is beginning to take hold in certain markets.

It is over for Blackberry.  I'm hoping that we will see another refresh in the hardware before everything begins to unwind.  I'm hoping there is an improved Q10, maybe a Q30 that I can pick up before Blackberry abandons hardware development and focuses exclusively on software and app services.