Apple iPad Pro: First Impression

I am not going to get into why I dislike iOS devices. This is simply an unbiased and objective look at Apple’s largest tablet, the recently unveiled iPad Pro.

The Good

Display/Screen

It has a larger screen: 12.9 inches. Also there are more pixels. Not that I am impressed by that sort of thing. Personally, 720p is more than adequate for mobile hand held devices; 1080p at the most. Anything higher is superfluous. But that’s another matter.

Can Apple Still Prevail in Smartphones?

Apple released its very first iPhone back in 2007. It is well known that this was the smartphone that changed the whole game. Three years later, the winning tablet, the iPad, was unveiled before our eyes. It fair to say that Apple revolutionized the smartphone and indeed, the mobile industry. There are reports that Google had to redesign their Android prototype (which resembled a QWERTY blackberry) after they saw the first iPhone. Okay! but with all that, the question to ponder is this: will that reign last much longer?

Don't Get Excited About Activation Lock

I should point out that I am yet to use iOS 7 beta. Therefore, this article is partly speculative but rest assured that some concrete facts are included as well.

Apple’s new anti-theft feature in iOS 7, Activation Lock, is being hailed as the absolute deterrent to phone theft. As mentioned earlier, I am yet to try iOS 7 out but from what I can surmise, Activation Lock is anything but perfect.

Apple After Seventeen Months of Tim Cook

You already know what this is. An assessment of Tim Cook as CEO of Apple. So how has he fared? Well that’s the point of this article. His suitability for the role of CEO has always been debated and popular opinion is that he is no Steve Jobs. While this is true in both good and bad ways, I think it is unfair to compare him to his predecessor at the slightest opportunity. Some say he is doing extremely well on account on the company’s balance sheet. Others say he just hasn’t had enough time to mess things up yet. And where do I stand? Well it’s a 50-50 situation but recent events have me leaning towards the latter view.

Digital Media: The Unfulfilled Promise of HTML 5 Video

HTML 5 is widely regarded as the holy-grail of internet video, or at least it’s supposed to be. It allows web-enabled devices (Smart TVs, video game consoles, phones, tablets, PCs. etc) to play video hosted on the internet right from the web browser with the need for any additional software i.e – plugins.  The framework for HTML 5 video was first drafted in 2007 and five years later, it is gathering steam. It hasn’t reached critical mass but it is flourishing. So just what has hampered this wonderful technology from being the massive success it was heralded to be? To understand this, we must consider how we got here in the first place.

Reflecting on Scott Forstall's Dismissal

It is no longer news that Apple’s iOS chief, Scott Forstall has been fired. While no official reason has been given for the decision, there has been much talk that his sacking is not unconnected to the substandard iOS 6 Maps software. There has also been talk by former employees and insiders that he was difficult to get along with. While some of the rumours will most certainly be untrue, I am also mindful that there is no smoke without fire. My musings on all the reports and rumours raise some very cogent questions and point to a much bigger problem.

Apple Demystified

This article is a brief examination of Apple’s strategies before and after Steve Jobs’s death. Steve had many qualities: he was a talented visionary and as Apple put it: a good Editor in Chief. And I might also add, a distortionist of sorts. – This is an allusion to his famous self professed ‘’reality distortion field.’’ It is this last quality that is the focus of this article.