Steve Jobs: Connecting the Dots, Death is Life's best Invention; Stay Hungry and Stay Foolish

In memory of Steve Jobs's passing:

"Steve Jobs, who died Wednesday at 56, was the definition of a visionary, a technological trailblazer who transformed one industry after another, including computers, smartphones, music and movies. And, of course, Apple's co-founder transformed our everyday lives with gadgets like the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

Steve Jobs: 1955-2011
Steve also battled pancreatic cancer and needed a liver transplant. Those brushes with mortality helped shape his views of life and death, a perspective he shared in a remarkable 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University.
Jobs urged the graduates to remember that the future is uncertain -- death could be just around the corner -- and there was no time to waste on an unfulfilling career.

Here are some highlights from  his speech given at a Stanford Commencement: -- "When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like, 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you will most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me. And since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?' And whenever the answer has been 'No' for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something."
-- "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything -- all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure -- these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."
-- "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked, there is no reason not to follow your heart."
Jobs recalled when he was first diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2003, and when the doctor told him to "get his affairs in order." Then Jobs shared these words of wisdom.
"No one wants to die ... and yet, death is the destination we all share. Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent."

He added: "Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

His parting words: "Stay hungry, stay foolish."

PCMag Reports Apple's Being Sued for Using iCloud Mark by iCloud Communications

Apple is declared a serial infringer on other people's rights in a recent lawsuit filed by iCloud Communications that listed all the instances the giant company treaded on others' rights.  iCloud Communications sued Apple in an Arizona court as soon as Apple concluded its WWDC in San Francisco.  iCloud Communications wants all the profits from Apple's iCloud thus far.  And it wants the Cupertino company to cease and decease the use of iCloud.  What iCloud did not know is that Apple was a little smarter this time by acquiring earlier the website which has U.S patents, icloud.com.  So it is not going to be easy for iCloud Communications to have a slam dunk.  Read more of the case against Apple at PCMag.

Here is a sample of the content of the case:  "The goods and services with which Apple intends to use the 'iCloud' mark are identical to or closely related to the goods and services that have been offered by iCloud Communications under the iCloud Marks since its formation in 2005," the complaint, first obtained by The Next Web, alleges. "Due to the worldwide media coverage given to and generated by Apple's announcement of its 'iCloud' services and the ensuing saturation advertising campaign pursued by Apple,the media and the general public have quickly come to associate the mark 'iCloud' with Apple, rather than iCloud Communications." 
 

"Monetary relief alone is inadequate to fully address the irreparable injurythat Apple’s illegal actions have caused and will continue to cause to iCloudCommunications if this Court does not enjoin Apple. iCloud Communications istherefore entitled to preliminary and permanent injunctive relief to stop Apple’s unfaircompetition"

Google's Guitar Makes Music That Goes to the Cloud: Google Music in the Cloud

Google allows anybody who lands on its page to make music with its guitar shaped in the form of Google doodle.  That is so sweet.  Listen to all the music you can create while you are there.  Listen to some of the instrumental music composed on the Google guitar.

I love to doodle.  I love Google.  Serious but also fun.  What is not to love about the G!

Is Windows Phone 7 for Me or You This Christmas Season?

Microsoft is trying to get into the smartphone business just like Google's popular Droid phones run on Android.  The only thing is that Windows Phone 7 has nothing to do with Windows.  It is not run on Windows.  And it is the first generation of phone released by Microsoft on the new platform.  It is by most measures release 1.0.  We must quickly say that Microsoft is tinkering with the app phone software in that this release is a new creation, a new design for the company.
If you are used to the features found on Android and iPhone, it will be hard for you to settle for those offered by Windows Phone 7.  You will be surprised to find out that WP7 does not offer the following features:  You can not add new ringtones.  You can not organize your apps in folders.  You can not copy and paste.  You can not send videos as MMS messages.  Forget about video chat. WP7's browser does not allow you to play flash videos.  As far as the HTML5, the new kid on the block, WP7 will not play it either.  It can not even play videos in its own Microsoft's Silverlight format.  Forget about Online news videos, Hulu, youtube and more.

Now what are some of the good features of WP7?
Windows Phone 7 comes equipped with Word, Excel and Powerpoint.  This way, just any Microsoft products, it allows you to be productive.  It is fast or as fast as its competitors.  By paying $15 a month, you can play your music on Zune through the phone.  Based on all of this, I would say this is a Me-too gadget.  The only good thing is the new rethinking of the app software.

Good luck with your new WP7 if you receive it in your Christmas bag!

Here is a summary of the phone's main features:  The Good vs. The Bad

What better place to start than the beginning?
Good

* Responsible for user interface
* Crisp text and graphics (almost like e-Ink)
* Seamless integration of Facebook
* Quick Start from the camera to capture fleeting moments
* Interface clear
* Attractive aesthetic design that calls for a high concept magazine
* Easy Google, Facebook, installing Windows Live
* Think about the elegant, new, eye-candy user interface

The Bad

* Not compatible with external storage
* The lack of cut-paste functionality / (coming in early 2011)
* Does not have WiFi hotspot
* The lack of integration of Twitter (coming soon)
* Finnicky Google integration
* No unified inbox and e-mail thread
Applications * not persist in the background
* Most of the operating system is optimized for vertical view (horizontal orientation is not as ubiquitous as we would like)

Samsung Epic 4 G: A Great Phone with Lots of Whistles and Bells, and Great Kicks

Here are some of the great things, specifications you want to know about this phone:  5.1 Megapixel camera, Wi-Fi connectivity, 4" display and touch screen, android 2.1 OS, bluetooth capability.

It has the new hummingbird processor which makes games and movies easier to watch. And the good thing is that you have great battery consumption.

Epic 4 G is the best deal you can get in phone out there.  The super Amoled touchscreen allows you to use the phone in sunlight with no major problems.  It is a great phone to have with you.

Google and Verizon Wireless Unite to Give You The Best App Phone, The Motorola Droid X, For Now

If you are on the market to buy a new smartphone or a superphone, consider yourself lucky because you will have many choices. The state of the art app phone changes quickly. Some say that the technology does not give you time to adapt to it. A New York Times reviewer sums it up this way, "Last November, you might have been tempted by the Motorola Droid, “the best Android phone on the market.” A month later, the HTC Hero was “the best Android phone on the market.” By January, “the best Android phone yet” was the Nexus One. In April, “the best Android device that you can purchase” was the HTC Incredible. In May, “the best Android phone on the market” was the Sprint Evo...."

What's the hoopla all about the Droid X?

The Droid X allows you to do your typing onscreen. That is a major leap from the original Droid. There is no way you will not notice the size of the Droid. It is the biggest app phone on the market these days. One of my colleagues has one. She could have bought two of them, but decided to go against the idea of giving his daughter such an advanced phone as her first phone. He thought it is too big for the little girl. At this size (5 by 2.6 by 0.4 inches), it allows its users to do a lot with ebooks, GPS and other applications.

The Droid X comes equipped with many features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS, two mikes for noise cancellation, powerful speaker, unusually powerful vibrate mode, FM radio and Verizon’s expensive but not-call-dropping network.... Do you want more? How about this? The Droid X has an 8-megapixel camera with dual LED flashes.

Find out more info about this phone by reading this article.

iPhone 4 is the Phone for You: Here is what they are Saying about the new Apple Phone

The iPhone 4 is thin and sharp. Apple has ditched the rounded, organic look of previous models for an almost Mid-Century Modern stainless steel band around two slabs of black glass. (All iPhone 4s available right now are black; a white model is coming soon, Apple says.) The result is a phone that's slightly smaller and noticeably thinner than all of its competitors, at 4.5-by-2.31-by-.37 inches.

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diggThe device comes in two memory sizes, 16GB and 32GB. There's no memory card slot, and Apple cut down on the size of the SIM card slot. (Apple hates slots, because they mar the phone's lines.) They're using tiny "Micro-SIMs" now, which shouldn't bother you much if you're in the US; US users have no reason to ever remove the iPhone's SIM card.

Most phones feel like gadgets, because they're all metal and plastic. The iPhone 4 feels like jewelry, because of all that glass. The front of the phone is nearly-indestructible Gorilla Glass, according to Apple, and the back is a different kind of tempered glass. That will make the phones relatively resistant to scratches, but I'd still recommend a case if you want to keep yours looking pristine.

Apple's "retina screen" is pretty great, although it doesn't live up to its bombastic marketing copy. (What could?) The IPS LCD technology used has incredibly deep blacks and noticeably richer colors than the iPhone 3GS did, the viewing angles are wider, and it looks much better outdoors. It's far more beautiful than any other screen technology I've seen except for Samsung's upcoming Super AMOLED. I look forward to testing those two technologies against each other.



The iPhone 4, like the 3GS, is a GSM/HSPA 7.2 phone that operates on AT&T's and foreign 3G bands. Also like previous iPhones, it's not the greatest phone for voice calling.

Cue the screaming nay-sayers: "If it's not the world's best voice phone, what good is it? A phone should be a PHONE!" Yes, that is a valid view. There are phones for you. The iPhone 4 is not the phone for you. Move on. There are millions of people for whom making long, heartfelt voice calls isn't their primary desire—they send scads of text messages, play games, Fingerpoke on YouFace (if they're Tina Fey) and make brief voice calls to get their points across. The iPhone is for them.

If you're looking for salvation from dropped calls, the iPhone 4 isn't it. In extremely weak signal conditions in our lab and our basement, the iPhone 3GS actually connected slightly more calls successfully than the iPhone 4 did—about one in ten additional calls went through. The iPhone 4 gave a truer picture of signal strength than the 3GS did, though; its "bar" meter is quicker to respond to changes in RF than the 3GS is.

Apple also acknowledged that the "iPhone death grip" is real, and holding the phone the wrong way reduces signal strength. I made Speedtest.net data speed tests slow down and even stall out by picking up the phone and holding it in my left hand, with one finger on each seam of the phone and the bottom-left corner against the pad of a slightly sweaty palm. Putting the phone down on the table caused the speed test to resume. The death grip only made a difference on voice calls in weak signal conditions, though; with decent or strong signal, it didn't affect the iPhone's ability to connect calls. Adding one of Apple's $29 plastic "bumpers" fixed the death-grip issue entirely.

Take a Look at iPhone4 FaceTime, HD Recording and More

At this year's WorldWide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone4 and talked about its features as a revolutionary step in the right direction. He is a showman, a marketing strategist. He added that this new phone is the best thing that Apple can produce since the original iphone came to the market.

What are some of the features of the iPhone4?

There is no doubt that being able to use facetime video to talk to friends, family members and business partners is a great addition to the phone. How many times that we want to talk to someone and see this person in real time? Iphone4 FaceTime allows you to do just that.

In addition, with this phone, you have a front-face camera that allows you to take pictures. It also comes read with HD video recording and making capabilities which you can edit right on the phone itself.

The 5-megapixel camera built into iPhone 4 captures amazingly detailed images. A built-in LED flash illuminates low-light scenes. And the 5x digital zoom gets you closer to the action

Here is a list of some of the features you will encounter on the new iphone:

iMovie, iBooks, iTunes store, iPod, phone, photo, keyboard, safari, voice control,mail, appstore, iphone, folders, camera, messages, maps and compass, photos, search etc.


Pre-order starts June 15 and available on June 24!


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