Category: apple

Technology Prediction – Local or Cloud – Part 1

With the upcoming release of Apple’s revised cloud solution I think it is best I get my prediction out in the world.

So will all our storage be now be in the cloud? Will my phone keep its contacts online? My iPod only downloads songs as a stream? My camera uploads instantly with no more SD cards?

Yes and No.

Bandwidth, access, cost, and privacy will mean that local storage will be around for a while to come. I think what will take off in the next couple of years is “Sync to the Cloud”

Yes “Sync to the cloud” has been around for a couple of years but no one has really executed it in a way that has changed how we work for the better. My hope is that with Apple’s track record and since this is not their first attempt that they might just get it right this time.

I look forward to never having to worry about backups, running out of space, transferring to a new phone, or worse a stolen camera with all my holiday memories. That day is coming.

The “Sync to the cloud” idea means that all my devices will have access to a common storage pool that is always up to date. My TV has access to the same photos and videos as my laptop and tablet, even it I’m out of the house no matter what operating system they run.

iPhoto – Nice! Now I see the future of photos

One thing I liked at MacWorld from Apple was the new version of iPhoto. Are Apple and Google competing for digital asset management supremacy? Google releases a version of Picasa for Mac that would have been an improvement over the old iPhoto. The next day Apple announce a new version of iPhoto that takes it to the next level.

Face recognition, Geo-tagging, linked to social networks. Now they have face recognition how long till they include other objects like buildings, cars, and animals? What if this information is shared with search engines? How about Photosynth, what if it grabs all the photos tagged with a location. What if you (or the friends you share images with) have images of that location over a number of years? A small slider at the bottom on the screen allows you to see the view change over time… make that into a video and now you’ve got a screen saver I’d like to have.

No Mac Mini

Although it was rumored that Apple would release a new Mac Mini (and an iPhone Nano) when I got up this morning and checked Engadget all I go was a 17" Mac Book.

Where is the new Mac Mini!!! Think they might put a Dual Core Atom in it? A SSD? Have it all run on 20 Watts of power. Green computing at it’s best. They better hurry up or I’ll have to build my own, Intel make a nice motherboard with the 330 onboard.

Browser Wars – Return of the Choice

A long time ago before the dot com crash there was a war. The mighty Netscape lost the war and the evil Microsoft dominated the Internet ever since.

The rebel forces of Netscape went into hiding as Mozilla. Along came the New Hope, Firefox with new powers that the Death Star (a.k.a. Internet Explorer) could only dream of.

Yesterday the latest in the new breed browsers was released from Google which now means that all 3 of the big players in Web 2.0 have released browsers for Windows.

Apple Safari – http://www.apple.com/safari/

Google Chrome – http://www.google.com/chrome/

Microsoft IE8 – http://www.microsoft.com/ie8/

And Firefox is at Version 3 – http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

Just like last time, these are all free products. The web has evolved into an application platform and it is clear the this is what Google aims to capture with it’s release. I’m not sure why Google decided to go it alone when they did appear to have some kind of relationship with the Firefox group.

Guess time will tell as to who will win this round of the browser wars.

I want an iPhone

iPhone goes on sale tomorrow and the only network that really have 3G where I live is Telstra. Now, I have shares in these guys and I want them to make money but I don’t like been ripped off and so far they are the only Australian network not to release pricing information…

Their website is the worst out of all the players and I almost expect them to have got some crazy customisations done to the software to make it Telstra-ish.

I guess we will find out tomorrow at 8 am…

Mobile Me … Exchange for the rest of us?

Apple might be on a winner here…. www.me.com

Not sure if Google is involved since this is the replacement to .Mac and the rumour on the wire was that Google was involved in the replacement… 2 Weeks ago it became clear the .Mac was dead.

If Google isn’t part of this, can they please build the same thing for those of us not wanting to pay the monthly fee or that run something other than Mac or Windows?

I actually thought that Microsoft’s Mesh would offer more of this Exchange like capability but I guess that was too much to hope for…

Next question, how much is the iPhone going to cost here in Australia?