Apple News, Analysis and Podcasts
 Is Apple about to break the Babe Ruth rule of doing one thing, and doing it well? That is very likely to be the case with Apple delivering a larger screen iPhone, but all eyes are on WWDC and whether or not Apple will also be showing off a summer iPhone 5S update to the market.
Steve Jobs was against a multiple device mobile lineup, and felt his simplified ideal should be the only way Apple approached the market. But Jobs isn't in charge anymore, and it appears Tim Cook is setting the sails towards filling out the iPhone lineup with multiple screen sizes.
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 This week the U.S. Senate brought Apple executives before one of its publicly held sub-committee hearings. The topic was Apple using Ireland and other techniques to avoid paying U.S. taxes on products and services sold off-shore. Among all the Congressional hubris that took place, one big fallacy remains: Corporations do not pay taxes, we do.
For every dollar or tens of dollars taxed and regulated onto companies, whether it be Apple, Coke or Bob's Deli, we pay those costs. In reality, companies pay zero taxes, as they simply pass those costs down the line to the consumers of their products. Thus, we pay every dime of every regulation and tax bestowed onto corporations, every – single – dime.
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 Apple, Inc's World-Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) is fast approaching, and while Apple CEO Tim Cook has allued to having no new hardware arriving until this fall, software will be the big focus for Apple's annual developers event. A new version of Apple's mobile iOS and desktop OS X software is going to be shown, but perhaps more important than these fundamental pieces of Apple's ecosystem is iCloud. The future of computing, how we access and manipulate data is rapidly moving to server-side solutions, or "cloud" architecture, and Apple has been falling behind its competition at a rapid rate.
Google and others have taken an aggressive approach in developing a wide array of cloud services and tools, wasting little time in building robust ecosystems. Google, clearly out in front with an impress user base, has built a formidable Microsoft Office competitor in Google Docs. But Google's cloud platform has gone well beyond email or users loading and creating documents stored online. Google's entire cloud platform covers development for data mining, custom cloud storage, Enterprise search and much more.
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Microsoft’s latest Windows 8 mobile phone ad is admittedly somewhat clever. It shows a wedding where the bride’s side of the aisle is filled with Google Android phone users, while the groom’s side is made up of all iPhone users. Another, and more subtle note, is that the Android side is filled with mostly hip, young people, while the iPhone side of the aisle is populated with older people (40+). During the ceremony an iPhone user asks a person from the Android aisle, “Would you mind moving your enormous phone?” because the Android person is using their oversized phone to take a picture. This question is really a thinly veiled derogatory statement. What quickly follows is a humorous exchange of insults between Android and iPhone users. Soon after a fight breaks out.
Standing in the middle of the fight are two caterers who have red and yellow Nokia Lumia phones running Windows 8. For some reason they aren't drawn into the fight nor does the fight ever come to them. As they stand in the middle of this chaos taking pictures and scrolling through the Windows 8 tiled interface (for whatever reason), one caterer asks the other, “Do you think if they knew about the new Nokia Lumia they'd stop fighting all the time?” The other caterer responds, “I don't know. I think they kinda like fighting.” The commercial ends with a man ripping his shirt open (ala Superman) and tattooed onto the center of his chest is an Apple logo. Immediately he is knocked over from behind by an unseen Android user. Microsoft’s tag line is “Don’t Fight. Switch.”
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 What the next version of AppleTV will look like or whether it will even be called AppleTV (some rumors think it will be called iTV) is anyone's guess. Mark Reschke has postulated that the next AppleTV will include a 60" screen and be 4K. It is not a far fetched idea, if Apple can keep the price down so mere mortals can afford one. Apple surprised everyone with the incredibly low introductory price with the original iPad. They certainly could do this for a 4K HDTV too.
Yet another feature rumored to be on the horizon for the next generation AppleTV is Siri. Siri would change the way people interact with their TVs. Instead of looking for that silly remote that likes to hide between couch cushions and run away to rooms far, far away, you could just use your voice to control what show or movie plays on your TV. However, a big feature no one seems to be talking about, that would be huge, is Game Center for AppleTV.
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There are an amazing amount of great games for the iPhone, with plenty of games for each type of genre users are interested in. Most of these games are designed to be used in a more causal setting. Hard core gamers may need to use a game console or computer, as the iPhone is just too small for these more complicated games, but that does not mean there are not fun, interesting or challenging games to play on the iPhone.
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By all media accounts, Apple's Maps app was an absolute disaster, at least at launch. Apple should have either announced the product as a beta solution, launched it later as a production level product, or never launched it at all. Truth be told, I've used it from day one, well over 100 times and it's never steered me wrong. But going far beyond the hysteria that Apple Maps was going to lead you into a dark cave of death instead of your intended destination, Apple achieved a major victory with the launch. Google was forced to pony up and deliver a quality iOS maps application. Apple would be wise to play the same card on Microsoft.
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The gaming market for the iPhone continues to grow as the number of iPhone users increase. We carry our iPhones around everywhere and are endlessly looking for new ways to kill time or relax. Games are one way to get rid of the boredom while standing in line or waiting for an appointment, but don't worry, for the iPhone there are many different types of games to choose from.
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AirPlay is one of the coolest features found on an iOS device, and since Mountain Lion, on your Mac as well. Of course that is if you have a newer Mac. If you have an older Mac you were out of luck until AirParrot came to the rescue by giving older Mac's the ability to mirror their screen to an AppleTV. While AirPlay is cool, it is in need of an update. 1.0 versions of software rarely have everything people want. Version 2.0 releases add missing features and fix annoying bugs. Following is my list of features and bug fixes that Apple needs to build into AirPlay 2.0 to make it über-cool™.
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Apple's iPhone revolution began in 2007 with Steve Jobs holding a svelte, all glass and aluminum iPhone smartphone like no other. Through the years of the iPhone's design changes, the product's nomenclature has been in decent alignment in how it reflects the hardware or its software. The forthcoming iPhone 5S appears to be no different, and while the "S" and what it stands for might have been a big mystery — that is no longer the case.
Beginning with the iPhone 3G, Apple launched the iPhone with an all new physical design every other generation. The major body changes are noted with a number only, however, the iPhone models with an S remain virtually unchanged in physical appearance, relying on software or internal chip set factors to set them apart.
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