Über -> Flywheel Taxi hailing App

: "Uber’s controversy involving reporters and privacy violations spawned calls for boycotts and switching to alternative on-demand car service options. And now, in addition to Lyft’s claim of seeing a huge bump in number of rides in the past week, Flywheel has seen a 300 percent increase in app downloads, the company told VentureBeat."

Flywheel Taxi hailing instead of Ubering.

Natalie Portman rumored for troubled Steve Jobs biopic

Natalie Portman rumored for troubled Steve Jobs biopic: "A second major Hollywood star could soon join the Aaron Sorkin-penned Steve Jobs biopic, according to a Wednesday report, with actress Natalie Portman said to be in discussions with Universal over a role in the film."

Wot? Wot. Wot!

After losing Apple's iPad business, Intel has bled $7 billion while heavily subsidizing cheap x86 Atom Android tablets

After losing Apple's iPad business, Intel has bled $7 billion while heavily subsidizing cheap x86 Atom Android tablets: "Over the last two years, Intel's mobile chip division has lost $7 billion while heavily subsidizing the manufacturing costs of Android Atom tablet makers. It now plans to phase out those generous incentives, which will make it more expensive for iPad competitors to dump cheap tablets into the market. "

Obviously a market leader needs to strike a balance between leading and pricing. Unfortunately, the ARM SOC competition is at a whole different price point and if these low power chipmakers ever add x86 instructions, could spell trouble. 8086 __asm forever!

Revel Works With Apple Pay - Revel Systems | iPad POS System | Retail and Restaurant POS

Revel Works With Apple Pay - Revel Systems | iPad POS System | Retail and Restaurant POS: "A new player has just entered the mobile payment industry, setting the stage for exciting possibilities in the point of sale space. Apple Pay will enable users to make payments from their iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, without having to share credit card or other personal information. Mass adoption of Apple Pay technology is already underfoot, with franchise giants like McDonald’s, Subway, and Panera on board, along with major retailers like Target, Whole Foods, Macy’s, and Bloomingdale’s."

Pad Pay.

Disney announces Disney Infinity 2.0 mobile built w/ Metal, new ESPN app, and more during today’s special event | 9to5Mac

Disney announces Disney Infinity 2.0 mobile built w/ Metal, new ESPN app, and more during today’s special event | 9to5Mac: "Disney Infinity 2.0 released earlier this fall on consoles, but until today Disney had been mum on its plans for an updated mobile version. Now it’s official. Disney Infinity 2.0 for mobile devices will be released this holiday season."

Hmmm. Metal!

Apple's plan to penetrate enterprise involves dedicated sales team, partnerships with software developers

Apple's plan to penetrate enterprise involves dedicated sales team, partnerships with software developers: "Apple is looking to grab a bigger portion of the corporate software and solutions business with dedicated sales teams tasked with wooing big-name corporations, while at the same time working with software developers already entrenched in the enterprise sector."

IMHO the platform is changing too fast to be a viable enterprise solution for custom development. No corporation wants to do 3 months of development every year in response to whatever new wingy-dingy that Apple has added to iOS to defend against Android or whatever new UI candy is in fashion.

You know what's in fashion for enterprise? Applications that run for 25 years without rebooting the hardware. Read about it in Fortress Rochester.

Aaron Sorkin talks Steve Jobs biopic, provides more plot details in Bloomberg interview | 9to5Mac

Aaron Sorkin talks Steve Jobs biopic, provides more plot details in Bloomberg interview | 9to5Mac: "Aaron Sorkin sat down with Bloomberg’s Emily Chang for an interview and talked about a variety of topics including his upcoming Steve Jobs biopic. The film has been in the works for several years now, with at least three different actors reportedly having been considered or confirmed to play the Apple co-founder at some point."

It amuses me that there is speculation about the plot of this movie.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could have insane 5.9-inch 4K Ultra HD display | 9to5Google

Samsung Galaxy Note 5 could have insane 5.9-inch 4K Ultra HD display | 9to5Google: "While only a small but growing number of users have even upgraded their desktop computer with a 4K monitor, a new report from PhoneArena claims that Samsung will start mass-producing a 5.9-inch 4K Ultra HD Super AMOLED display in August. Conveniently, that is around the time Samsung might begin manufacturing its Galaxy Note 5."

Personally, I think Apple should ignore MS on the desktop, keep Mac OS X stable and clean and tighten up iOS, which is going bloaty. I use Dolphin on the Nexus 7 and actually prefer it to Chrome on the desktop for most tasks.

Apple Pay pays off for Google Wallet too: users double and payments grow by 50%

: "While Apple Pay has grabbed all the attention in the mobile payment field, with the Google Wallet service launched back in 2011 having failed to make the same kind of splash, it appears that Google may be benefiting from the publicity generated by Apple."

Always thought Google Wallet was under-marketed.

Xiaomi to seek funding round that could value smartphone maker at up to $50 billion | 9to5Google

Xiaomi to seek funding round that could value smartphone maker at up to $50 billion | 9to5Google: "Bloomberg on Tuesday, citing sources familiar with the matter, reports that Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi is in talks to hold a funding round that could value the smartphone maker at between $40 billion to $50 billion. The news arrives just days after it was reported that Xiaomi overtook LG to become the world’s third-largest smartphone maker."

China is a world unto itself.

Seth Rogen to play Steve Wozniak alongside Christian Bale's Steve Jobs

Seth Rogen to play Steve Wozniak alongside Christian Bale's Steve Jobs: "Actor Seth Rogen, famous for comedic roles in hits like 'Superbad' and 'Knocked Up,' will reportedly appear in the upcoming Steve Jobs biopic written by Oscar winner Aaron Sorkin, and is set to take on the role of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak."

Thought Josh Gad did a great job in the Steve Jobs movie.

iPad Pro rumored specs: smaller 12.2-inch display, 7mm thickness, Left/right stereo speakers | 9to5Mac

iPad Pro rumored specs: smaller 12.2-inch display, 7mm thickness, Left/right stereo speakers | 9to5Mac: "The Japanese website compares the iPad Pro to Microsoft’s Surface implying that the preferred method of use will be landscape instead of portrait which has been the default iPad orientation since its 2010 inception. "

So many competitors.