What to Expect from Apple’s iPhone 6 (or 5S?)

(Photo credit: International Business Times)

The next generation of iPhone is likely to debut in a few months. The earliest possible date is June 10 - 14 when Apple hosts Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Its actual product sales launch could be sometime in July or even September, considering the previous launch time.

Amid worries about Apple’s slowing growth, iPhone is definitely the key to reassure investors’ confidence. iPhone sales account for more than half of the firm’s revenue and it’s the key driver for Apple’s growth over past 5 years. Every single release of iPhone has been highly anticipated. The coming one is without exception, and it could be even more interesting.

The much heated competition in smartphone space has brought a lot of pressure on Apple’s ability to stay innovative, especially after Jobs’ departure. iPhone 5 is a major redesign from iPhone 4S, however, in terms of its operating system, iOS 6, it is not that ‘surprisingly’ good, not mentioning Apple’s fall in its own developed Maps app.

Personally, I still feel that iPhone 5 is the best phone I have ever used. It does the work and it does not have too many quirks except occasional hiccups. It is difficult for Apple to improve something that is already this good, but they have to. :) Below is just some of my guess what will be appearing in the next generation of iPhone.

Hardware-wise, there should not be much radical redesign. The possible upgrade could be

1. Faster processor and possibly larger RAM. That is something that is most likely to be going in.
2. Camera. better lens, or larger sensor and higher resolution.
3. NFC integrated: that’s one thing missing in iPhone 5, which eventually makes Passbook App useless. Hopefully NFC technology could enable this app again. NFC could be used for contactless payment, identification and data transmission, etc.
4. Larger battery capacity. iPhone 5 has been blamed for its short-living power performance especially in the use of LTE(4G) network. Longer battery life is always something desired.
5. 128GB storage option. Since the latest iPad is already offering the option of 128GB internal storage, there is no reason that iPhone would not follow the same.

Compared to hardware, I believe it could be a major revamp for iOS. The interface has not changed much since day 1. Since the departure of Scott Forstall, the ex-chief of iOS team, Jony Ive has been working closely with the interface team. I certainly think that he will have a quite different idea for iOS interface. Other features may include:

1. Enhancement of Siri. A lot more will and need to be added to the current Siri functionality. Most people only tried Siri in the first week when they get their new iPhone. It means that there are plenty of room to improve in this feature.
2. Major redesign of some built-in apps such as Mail, Weather, Calendar, Stocks, etc., as part of the UI revamp.
3. Passbook could be made to support contactless payment, with the help of NFC chips.

In brief, Apple will need to remain focused on user experience and innovation at the same time to keep the iPhone popular. However, it can still give us a surprise that nothing I listed above is correct. For me, the waiting part for new iPhone launch is always the most fun part.

If you are expecting any features from the next generation of iPhone, please leave a comment below! I would love to hear yours!

Technorati Tags: Apple, Commentary, iOS, iPhone, News

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Alibaba and Sina: Join Hands for A Better Future

(Photo from China.org.cn)

The biggest news last week in China’s Internet industry is Alibaba’s decision to purchase 18 percent of the share from Sina Weibo, by far the largest social network platform in China.

Alibaba is the biggest e-commerce company in China, which most people know it through the much popular B2C platform Taobao.com. Alibaba's business has been growing in an incredible pace for the past few years. Owning the stake in Weibo.com definitely strengthens Alibaba’s strategy in online advertising and sales.

On the other side, Weibo, pretty much the Chinese version of Twitter, has more than 500 million registered users. This massive user base is something that every business would like to tap on.

While Weibo is still prospering, Sina’s share price has been going low for the past few months before Alibaba’s announcement. Weibo has made 66 million dollars in revenue last year, however, the expense is greater, 93 millions, which leads to a net loss of around 27 million dollars. This shows that, just like Twitter, Sina is still struggling to find a profitable business model for its microblog platform.

The alliance between Alibaba and Weibo looks promising for both parties. By leveraging on the large user population, Alibaba’s marketing and advertising could better target the audience and educate more users in online shopping experience. In turn, Weibo could boost its revenue in advertising and maintain a long-term relationship with the e-commerce giant in China. 

From another perspective, Weibo's prosperity is still very much under government's surveillance. Though it may not  be directly affecting its advertising initiative, less free participation from users could still impact the effectiveness of the marketing strategies. That's something Alibaba and Weibo should deal with.

It is a very much promising partnership and collaboration for both Alibaba and Weibo, however, the future down the road still needs both parties' careful planning and steering.

Technorati Tags: Commentary, News, Alibaba, Sina, Weibo

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Facebook Home: A Whole New Experience from Your Smartphone

(Photo from Facebook)

Facebook started as a website that hosts social network, and it is still true even today. However, its presence in mobile space is getting more prominent than ever. Last week, Mark Zuckerberg announced that, instead of launching a physical and dedicated 'Facebook Phone', Facebook Home is released to bring a whole new experience for smartphone users.

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Cybercrime: Time to Get Prepared

Image Credit: The Verge

Suddenly it seems that the technology world is more vulnerable to hacking now than ever, at least it appears to be. We've heard the story that Twitter has been hacked, and then it's Apple and Facebook. And now Evernote, the software that provides online note taking and archiving, has just fallen victim to the hackers as well. Though companies have assured that there is no sensitive information leaked due to the hacking, it is hardly convincing for the customers to believe that their information is still securely stored at the server end.

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Firefox OS: the Newborn Mobile System Is Coming

 

In the smartphone space, while iOS and Android are still fiercely fighting against each other, Firefox just joined the battlefield. Mozilla, the company that is famous for its internet browser, Firefox, announced that they'll launch their own mobile operating system, Firefox OS in about a year's time. 

In brief, Firefox OS will be an open source system, which is the core spirit of Mozilla. However, unlike Google's Android, Firefox OS is based on HTML5 web platform. It will be backed by hundreds of thousands applications out there on the web. Firefox OS will be highly customizable and also make smartphone even more affordable. Many manufacturers have shown their interests in this newborn system, such as ZTE, Alcatel and even Sony. In the coming year, we'll probably see more Firefox powered smartphones in the news. 

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Google Glass: Bringing You the View into Future

Innovation has always stayed at the center of Google. You may previously happen to know about its project on driverless car. That is probably still distant from being deployed by the masses. However, Google just brought its latest project to the public (Okay, or a lucky few!). It is the Google Glass. Below is a Youtube video released by Google, demonstrating how it is used. 

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What to Expect in Apple's 'iWatch'?

(Source: MacRumors.com)

Suddenly there is a rumour circulating around the Internet, saying Apple is designing an "iWatch" and this rumour has been confirmed by a few credible sources including Bloomberg. As expected, Apple hasn't responded to any of these external claims. However, it is very plausible that Apple would be working on such a product.

Strategically, Apple needs to enhance its existing ecosystem. The current iOS ecosystem has been great so far, but it could be improved further by introducing new product lines to tap new market segmentation. Probably inspired by previous generation of iPod Nano and Nike's fuel band, iWatch would be something with 'cool' factor, just like Google's unreleased Google Glasses. It doesn't have to be that much useful, instead, it will be something that geeks or Apple fans would want to have. 

Here I am taking a few guesses on Apple's smart watch's features.

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Dell's Going Private: PC Era's Come to An End?!

(Source: Neowin.net)

A big surprise to many people, Dell has decided to go for privatisation after being listed as a publicly traded company for more than 25 years. The reason could be many, but the most dominant one is still the declining sales of personal computers (PC). The company wants to make a turnaround and transform itself to a corporate solution provider, following the example of IBM in the early 90s. And don't forget not so long ago, HP reported the same decline in its PC sales and expressed pessimism about the future prospect of its PC division. So question is posted to everyone, is PC industry really dying? 

Well, it depends, but not so negative. 

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BlackBerry: Back in the Game

(Photo from: BGR.com)

Two days ago, RIM (now known as BlackBerry) finally gave its long overdue update: the release of BlackBerry 10, its latest OS that the company bets on to revive itself. Here in this post I don't want to talk much about the features since they are all over the Internet (for example, engadget). I would like to share my thoughts on whether BlackBerry got its very chance to return to its great old days.

BlackBerry used to be the symbol of 'smart and cool', even US president used it for its highly secured protection of private data on the phone. Then it got stuck right there, no more significant improvement in both hardware and software. After five years, people still have to navigate around the tiny icons and read the email with crammed text. Stock market has reflected the same as how consumers feel about BlackBerry. The current share price is about 10% of its peak price 5 years ago. Its global smartphone market share has slipped from 20% to the marginal 7% now. Facing intensive competition from iOS and Android could be one reason, the other, and a more dominant one is apparently its lack in innovation.

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Guest Blog: The End of the Beginning - Why Apple Should Introduce A Cheaper Version of the iPhone

I have shared my thoughts and opinions in the previous post about why Apple shouldn't release a lower-price iPhone to the market just for the sake of keeping the growth. Clearly, this is a controversial topic and I am glad that one of the readers shared his own opinion through this guest blog. Though it is more of 'economist' or editorial style. It certainly brings some fresh perspective on this matter.  

The End of the Beginning

By HMP

Photo: Apple's flagship store on 5th Avenue, New York City

The week began with a two-term US president taking the oath of inauguration, and ended with US tech giant Apple ceding the title as the most valuable company in the world to ExxonMobil. Nearly US$ 50 billion, almost equivalent to the entire capitalisation of Boeing (another US giant facing unprecedented challenge) was wiped off Apple’s book as Wall Street reacted with alarming nervousness to its zero net income growth last quarter.

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Cheaper iPhone? Not A Great Idea

(Image Source: Cult of Mac)

In my previous post, I've shared my opinions on why Apple's share price has dropped dramatically from its peak. Just on this Thursday, Apple released its second quarterly result in its fiscal year 2013. Within the after-hour, the share price slashed a massive 10% to below 500, though Apple stated that it is a record in revenue and sales of its iPhones. Such a contrast is due to the fear that Apple is slowing in the growth and the numbers didn’t hit the market expectation.

Analysts are commenting that Apple should tap the lower end market by introducing a cheaper iPhone. As high-end smart phone market is saturated, eurozone is still suffering from the financial crisis, and emerging markets’ potential is huge, this argument seems valid if Apple wants to sustain the hyper-growing trend. 

In my opinion, this simply does not work.

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Instagram vs. Pinterest: Who's Hit the Sweet Spot?

(Image Source: Braid Creative & Consulting)

Instagram and Pinterest are two representatives of the fast growing social media. Instagram was bought by Facebook for a premium of $1 billion and Pinterest is backed up by many investors and entrepreneurs for its business potentials. Both are seeing sharp user increase over the past few years and millions of users are active on the social networks daily. They are also both deemed valuable as retailer brands can take good opportunities to connect to its customers and promotion of their products and services could be much more effective than traditional channels of advertising and marketing. 

So, two comparable brands in the social media space, who is going to outshine the other in the long run?

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Facebook's Graph Search - Finally a Leap in the Search Space?

Mark Zuckberg has just announced Facebook's latest feature earlier today, the Graph Search. It is though still in a beta version and I have yet to actually try out the new search function. Facebook only gives an introductory page about this new hype for now.

Graph search leverages on Facebook's existing capital of social network, by 'exploiting' users' connections and their information and online activities. It also aims to provide better search result of recommendations such as restaurants, music, and sports by analysing users' preferences and regional statistics.

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Windows 8: the Next Vista?

The release of Windows 8 was highly anticipated this year. It is given the mission that it's gonna stand up front and challenge the fast rising iOS and Android, and of course the new era of tablets. However, so far Windows 8 seems not bringing any glory back to Microsoft yet. 

I've tried Windows 8 before, not for a long time though. I have to say that Microsoft has put enormous amount of effort in this piece of work. The new UI is fantastic, and not only that, if you click those widgets like weather, news, mails, etc. They are actually put in a very nice layout with rich content. The awkward part is that clearly it is designed for touch interface. Using a mouse to scroll and click just doesn't feel natural. 

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This Apple Isn't Golden After All

Source: Yahoo Finance - http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/AAPL:US/chart/

Ever since it hit the $700 per share earlier this year, Apple, Inc. has seen some sharp fall in its share price. As the US market closed on Friday, 7 Dec 2012, its share price is quoted as $533.25. That is a massive 24% decline in the market capitalization or $157 billion equivalent, and it was within 3 months. Taking a more distant perspective, say 5 year horizon, it could still be deemed as a hiccup considering its share price has tripled over the period. But it is interesting and worthwhile to try to understand the reasons behind the scene.

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Facebook Bought Instagram at $1 Billion !?

The very famous iOS photography app Instagram just expanded its territory to Android a week ago. Today Facebook announced that it will buy over Instagram at ONE BILLION US dollars in cash and stocks (link).

*Photo from Newspress.me

That might be a surprise to most of us. Why would Facebook acquire Instagram, and at such an unbelievable price?

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Are You Getting the New iPad?

The long waited new iPad has been out for a few weeks. One of my friends also preordered his new toy and got it on the first day. I got a chance to play with it for a while. Many are asking me whether I am upgrading my iPad 2 to the latest generation since I upgraded to iPad 2 from iPad 1. After some careful thoughts, I decide to keep my iPad 2 in hand.

There are a few reasons for me to decide not to go for the upgrade. Of course these reasons may only be valid for some people. 

First, look at what is different from my iPad. The very first thing is the retina display with amazing resolution 2048*1536. There is no way for iPad 2 being on par with this. Text and pictures are crystal clear. Especially for photographers who likes to import and view their photos on iPad, this could be a huge bonus. However, I personally do feel that the iPad 2 screen is good enough since I do not read or watch the screen in that close distance like what I did with my iPhone 4.

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