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This morning, I was listening to Macbreak Weekly and they were discussing how Apple has shifted their focus from computers, to mobile devices. I believe that although, mobile devices have become much more advanced, we still need computers and desktop devices. I knew that Steve Jobs had begun to respond to his email more frequently and decided why not give it a shot and email him. To my surprise, less than 15 minutes later, I got a push notification that said I have a email from Steve Jobs. I have the original message and the response below. Obviously, Apple isn’t going to do away with computers any time soon, as his response suggests and they agree there is still great value to having a computer and mobile devices.

My Message:

Steve’s Reply:

Rumors have emerge in the past weeks of Apple making MobileMe, their web service that provide Email, Contacts, Calendar, photo gallery and web hosting which currently costs $100 per year. The rumors say the reason is so that they can compete with Google’s free apps that have those features and many more! I think that if Apple makes some changes to MobileMe, it will be a  much better service and many more people will use it.

1. Price Reduction- If they don’t make it Free, then at least reduce the price to $50/year  $100 is too much for the few features it offers.
2. Free For iPhone Owners- Mobile Me also offers great features for the iPhone like “Find My iPhone” to find lost iPhones and “Remote Wipe” to securely delete the information on your iPhone over the internet. MobileMe should be included for free to all iPhone users so they can all take advantage of these very important features.
3. More Storage- Currently MobileMe offers 20 GB of storage for Mail, Photos, calendar, and files, for a lot of people that may not be enough. Storage should be increased at the very least to 100 GB if not unlimited.
4. iTunes Sync- Right now, iTunes is a major pain to setup on multiple computers or to move between computers. Why not have MobileMe sync all your iTunes content over the air and to your iPod or iPhone so you don’t need to plug your device in to sync, and content can automatically sync between computers.
5. Web Access/Streaming iTunes Content- In the event you don’t have your iPod or iPhone with you MobileMe should offer an option to stream song, videos and podcasts from your iTunes library on the web.

Although many people call the iPad a larger iPhone that can’t make calls. However, that large screen is great for consuming media. Not only for watching movies, TV shows and video podcasts, but also streaming content from the web. Many major media companies are making applications to view their content on the iPad. TWIT is a great example because they made a special app just for the iPad to view the live stream in either video or audio. The large screen iPad allows you to see more details and watch higher resolution video. It also is easy to travel with and take whereever you go and watch either downloaded content or if you can get online over 3G or WiFi you can stream content. This can make the iPad a perfect device to consume content whereever you are and you can enjoy your content anywhere  and very high quality. It adds just one more reason the iPad is a great device!

One Thursday, Apple gave a media preview of the next generation of the iPhone operating system. Many of the requested features that people have wanted are finally added and i think it is definitely worth the upgrade. They featured 7 major features which were the focus of the event, but there were over 100 additions to this version.

Multitasking- is the one feature that a lot of people have been demanding since the release of the first iPhone. It is very well executed on the iPhone and it isn’t supposed to be as resource-intensive as other mobile multi-tasking. This will make the iPhone platform much easier to get things done on. However, this will only work on iPhone 3Gs and 3rd generation iPod touches. This means that i’m out of luck but, for those with new hardware, this will make getting things done where every your go much easier.

Another great getting things done feature is Folders which allows you to group application into folders and have easy access to all your apps. It also will allow users to have over 2,000 apps and it will make organizing apps much easier.

You are now also able to customize the wallpaper of your device which is nice although I don’t know why it took them so long to add this feature.

The default Mail app got a few upgrades as well. Unified inbox lets you put multiple mail accounts into one mailbox so you can check all your mail in one spot. This makes it much easier for people who have multiple email accounts, as I do, you don’t need to check account individually although, you can if you still want to. Mail also has threaded conversations, like Gmail grouping together email conversations. The final addition to Mail is the ability to open attachments with other applications, which is very important if you want to edit attached files wherever you are.

As, I expected, Apple has made a version of iBooks, their ebook reader for the iPad, available for the iPhone.  It would have been foolish if Apple didn’t include this. You can sync your bookmarks and books with your iPad as well and make it easy to pick up on one device where you left off on the previous one.

Several Enterprise features have been added as well, you can now encrypt your email more thoroughly, use VPNs, and developers can even encrypt application data.

iAds is an interactive Ad system that can be enbedded in apps and have unique ads that are more than a standard banner ad and are even interactive.

Apple’s new Social gaming network will let gamers play against their friends over the internet and develop a mobile equivalent to the Playstation Network or XBox live. This will even further the iPhone as a portable gaming device.

Over-all this new version will greatly enhance the iPhone and has set a high standard for other mobile phone platforms to compete with. iPhone 4.0 will be out this Summer, and will be out in the Fall for the iPad. Pricing has not been announced but, even if it is $10 it is still worth it for the extra features you will gain.

When Apple debuted the Apple TV in 2007, it was meant to allow the user to access their iTunes content in their home media center to get the best possible experience. Later, users were able to directly download content on their Apple TV but, it never was that popular of a product. If Apple wants to make the Apple TV a successful product, then they need to make major changes to the Apple TV and take some ideas from the other set top boxes like Roku and Boxee.

1. Applications
The app store on the iPhone, iPod touch and now the iPad allows users to browse and download applications they want to expand the feature set of the device. On the Apple TV there doesn’t have to be the over 50,000 apps there are available in the iPhone app store but, apps for extra media and accessing social networks like Facebook and Twitter would be great to have on the big screen TVS.

2. Games
Going with the applications the app store could also open up the Apple TV as a gaming console and would be able to get more great entertainment on their Apple TV. They could target both the casual games that make the iPhone a great gaming platform as well as more serious games appealing to all gamers. The one advantage Apple has in this market is that they have mastered digital downloads through the app store and could use downloads as a cheaper alternative to optical disks.

3. Streaming Web Content
Both the Roku and Boxee box have the ability to stream content from the Internet both live and prerecorded. On Roku you can watch shows from Revision3, TWIT and other content providers. You can also watch the TWIT Live Stream as Leo broadcasts live everyday. This would add another dimension to the Apple TV and make it have the capabilities to replace your cable or satellite subscription.

Apple has done a great job designing the Apple TV’s user interface by making it slick and easy to use. However, they now need to step it up another notch and make it a full entertainment device.

The iPhone has been considered to be one of the best smartphones currently on the market. It allows people to stay organized on the move with a convenient device that is “always on and always connected” and includes crucial applications for business people calendar, contacts and email. Although these apps are pretty good for the average users, they leave more to be desired for the business user. The largest limitation for business people is the limitation to only synchronizing with one exchange account. Another problem is the limited calendar functionality, it once again is fine for the average user, and I use the calendar on my iPod Touch all the time, but, business people want more. The contacts app should add the ability to subscribe shared contacts lists which is very common in the world of big business.

My solution to these problems is that Apple should make Pro versions of the core applications for example, Contacts Pro, that add the functionality for business users and sell the  upgrade for a minimal price, even 99 cents and I’m sure a lot of iPhone owner would buy it. In fact, if it was 99 cents for the upgrades, I would even consider the upgrade because it could make the iPhone a much more productive device.

Although the reactions to Apple’s new tablet, the iPad have not been that of the revolutionary product many people thought it would be, I have found a perfect use for the iPad. The iPad is a great device for video production. I have found several great uses for it in the field of video production and all of them make producing video much easier. The first and what I think is the best use is for the Director, and Producer to have a script to follow during production either in a read-only PDF file or using the $10 pages app. This is great if they just want to follow along during the production or make changes as the production goes on. Another use is for the accountant or whoever has to keep a budget for the production can make adjustments or  track expenses on location. I can also be a great communication device between talent, crew, producers and directors. Another use for it is for a slate, there are several slate/clapperboard apps for the iPhone and the 10 inch slate would be great to have on the set and then open an app to have a slate ready making synchronizing audio and video much easier. It also would work as a great shot log either in a specific app or just in a Numbers spreadsheet. The final use the iPad could serve is watch video back by importing video into iTunes and syncing it to the iPad to see how the video has turned-out.

Now that Apple has released the much anticipated iPad, and we know that all the applications in the iPhone App store can now run on iPad in regular size or in double size to fill the screen. There are certain applications that I think if they are developed for the iPad that will make the iPad an even more amazing device.

1. Dropbox with Editing

This would be great, although you can buy iWork of the iPad, this would work much better because you can edit documents and then synchronize them to all your computers.

2. Newspaper and Magazine Readers

During the Keynote, the New York Times showed an application to read their articles one the iPad in a full screen application. It would be really nice if there was an application that would allow you to subscribe to several Newspapers and Magazines and have them delivered to your iPad once they are released. The 10 inch screen, is a great size to carry and read newspapers and magazines especially for travel

3. Note taking Application

A Onenote-style notetaking application would be a great application for the iPad because users could either use the keyboard dock or a Bluetooth keyboard to take notes whether it is for class or for a business meeting.

The iPad which is the long awaited tablet from Apple, has be called by some, “Just an iPod Touch with a bigger screen”, although I think it is some-what accurate, I think there are certain jobs that the iPad is much better at than the iPhone. I do think it still needs further development to make it a more viable device, but, there are some uses that I think the iPad can do very well already.

1. Netbook

Although Apple has mocked Netbooks in the past, this device would work very well as a netbook because you really don’t need a full operating system on a netbook which is used primarily for surfing the internet, checking email, and word processing all things that the iPad is great at. For those who don’t want to use the touch screen keyboard, you can either use a Bluetooth keyboard or the keyboard dock to have the ability of using a hardware keyboard. This is also great for traveling because it won’t take up too much space.

2. Ebook Reader

One of the newest applications introduced on the iPad is the iBooks app and the iBook store which allows you to browse, buy and read books on the iPad. Although other, Ebook readers are less expensive, the iPad also allows you all the functionality of an iPod Touch as well as an ebook reader. It also has a full color display!

3. Video Player

Although you can watch videos on an iPod Touch, the screen is only 3.5 inches and makes it a little difficult to see all the details. With a full 10 inch screen, the iPad is perfect for watching videos and enjoying content on the go.

Netbooks and Kindles beware, today Apple released their much anticipated tablet computer called the iPad. First, I want to say I am not a big fan of the name, although as I keep using it it does grow on me. The iPad in it’s simplest explanation is an iPod Touch or iPhone with a 9.7 inch screen. Although there are more features on the iPad but, it is a slightly modified version of the iPhone OS on the iPad. The iPad also has the iBook Store which lets you read, browse and buy ebooks on your iPad. It also has email, ipod, video playback and picture viewing capabilities just like the Ipod Touch. Also similar to the iPod Touch, you can watch Youtube videos in High definition and get maps and directions. Your probably wondering about the App Store that has all those apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. They all work on the iPad in a letter boxed regular sized or full screened double sized. They also announced that a new SDK (Software development Kit) is coming out today for developers to make Applications specifically for the iPad. The iPad has both WiFi and Bluetooth for connectivity and for $150 more on each model price, you can get 3G Wireless, unfortunately from AT&T, but, there are two options 250 MBs for $15 or Unlimited for $30, and they are prepaid meaning no contracts!The Wifi iPads will be available on March 27th and the 3G models will be availible on April 27th because of carrier approval.

The pricing scheme for the iPad is:

Wifi Model:

16 GB: $499

32 GB: $599

64 GB: $699

3G Models:

16 GB: $629

32 GB: $729

64 GB: $829

Where I think the iPad is going to be effective is in the Netbook Market, with the keybaord dock or a Bluetooth keyboard. The other major market it will be useful in is the ebook market, because although it costs more than the Kindle, it has a full color screen and has web access and all the features of an iPod. I think that this is not meant to be used as a computer but,  it can do the job of a netbook because they are main used for Office documents, which there is now iWork for iPad which is $10 per application and web surfing which it does well! I would have liked to see it running a touch version of full Mac OSX and i’m sure graphic artists would love it for Photoshop as well! But for reading, and surfing the web, at home on the couch, as Steve Jobs demonstrated during the keynote or for when you travel the iPad could be the device for you.