The Apple Event / ipad 4 / iPadMini

iPad Mini

So the Apple Event just finished, so many things to say so here go my random thoughts:

• The iMacs and laptops I could care less about since I believe it's nothing more than a commodity market.


• Not a fan of the presenter taking a shot on users for still using a Optical Drive. I get your idea of presenting something new (and this was the only technology-wise advancement).


• The new iMac design is beautiful


• Apple announced a 4th generation iPad. This is wrong on so many ways and i think it just took importance out of the iPad Mini


• There a some many things wrong with this, the announce that the 3 has been the best selling product yet they kill it in 6 months.


• Way to protect peoples investment, not even 6 months in and they already tell you your product is old


• It shows a ridiculous amount of arrogance by Apple, with Jobs it always had it but in a way that didn't get in the way of getting good stuff out there


• On to the iPad Mini, while I'm against the idea of this product (check out my thoughts here) I thought the presentation was lackluster


• I found it really wrong that they went on to "destroy" the Google Nexus yet they price it 130 bucks above it.


• What reason would I have to buy a iPod if for 30 bucks I can get a iPad Mini, but why should I get the Mini if I can get for 70 bucks a real iPad.


• The talked about what they are "better" at but they forgot to mention the resolution is worse than its competitors. 7.9-inch iPad Mini with 1024x768 pixels is lower resolution than Nexus 7 and Kindle HD Fire HD. 162ppi versus 216ppi and 169ppi.


• I remember a time where Apple truly dazzled us with new products, now it seems every event is just a refresh, a bigger or smaller version of what is in the market.


• Why did Apple choose this date for it's event? To take attention away from Microsoft Windows 8 and the Surface launching this week. After seeing this I don't really think they accomplished that.


• Apple will never accept this but they are afraid of the Android platform. The signals are there: going into the market that is already created, try to stay on pace with technologies that have been out for a while and not create new stuff, actually bring nothing new to the market in the past couple of years


• Competition is stronger than it has ever been, don't get me wrong, but I don't think dismissing something saying you are better but not really offering it in the same way to the market.


• Why would I buy the ipad mini now if I'm sure that in 6 months they will come out with a retina display Mini?


• So the new iPhone comes out and has pretty much what every other high end phone has, the Mini brings nothing new to the table regarding mid-sized tablets -except a absurdly high price-, the new iPad 4 is a slap in the face to iPad 3 consumers... hey at least the iMac is sexy.

I hope this doesn't come across as an Apple hating post, I'm a fan of some of its products but I really believe the Cupertino giant is slowly losing it's way. I don't like where this is heading; I think people are dumb enough that the Mini will be a financial success but as an investor I'm afraid of what the next 5 or 10 years will look like.

Never forget what brought you to the party, that is something Steve Jobs always had present and I believe Tim Cook and the rest of the team is slowly losing.

What are your thoughts on the Apple event? on the 4th generation iPad? On the iPad Mini?

Mr Khakbaz out!

Ny Blog, sunday

Bare with me asI wrote this on my iPad and most pictures are on my camera... Will upload them when I get home

Time to kick off a great week waking up early (for a Sunday) at 9am. I catch the 1st set between Nadal-Federer in the French Open finals; what a great comeback by Nadal after starting out pretty bad.

1030 I'm out of the hotel to walk around -the best way to be a tourist around NYC- to Times Square. This guy on a wheelchair singing "nobody jerks me off like you do", once you hear that you know you are in NYC.

Check out a couple of stores looking for a Adrian Gonzalez redsox tshirt for the game on tuesday, still not hae been able to find it. At about 1145 it find an Olive Garden right in the heart of TS, this is probably the only place where an Olive Garden has such a spectacular view. I've got the Hershey Store within view, so I now where the next stop will be. BTW when at Olive Garden get the Portobello Filled ravioli.

Couple of more hours of walking just soaking up the city and sights. Got into a irish pub for a quick beer and it was off to the Brooks Atkison theatre on 47th right off Broadway for Rain: a tribue to The Beatles at 3pm

Holy shit the show is AMAZING!!! I just can't put into words how great the show is. The theatre is pretty small so you have great views from any seat. Most tribute shows I have seen are just a cheap copy but this has a pretty good production but the performers are off the hook good. The guy who plays John Lennon looks so much like him it's scary. All of thr band members are great. Paul plays a great bass, George has some amazing guitar solos, and Ringo is great on the drums (although he looks more like Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory).

Any true Beatles fan show watch this show. It is so worth the price of admission and you will be glad you took a chance on a smaller but great show.

At 5:30 I make my way out of the theatre and onto the subway on 49th to get on the N line to get to the Mets game at Citi Field against the Braves; the trains are packed. About midway I switch to the 7th line and at about 6:15 it get off and get into the ballpack.

I can't stress how nice the stadium is, such an improvement from historic (nice word for old) Shea Stadium. Nice surprise that it's free batting helmet night, so I get a souvenier to take home. Got to the team store to get a couple of gifts for my old folks (a shot glass and a magnet for their collections). A thing I hadn't seen at other parks is that you have the chance to buy game used balls, bats and bases, along with other signed memorabilia like jerseys and lineup cards; a pretty cool thing for mets fan.

Got to walk around the park during batting practice, and then got to my seating area to watch the Braves some balls out of the park. Eric Hinske was cool with the fans, also Jair Jurgens threw some ball to the fans. One funny/scary moment was when a ball was hit one a line drive for a homerun; the thing was that is was hit si hard that everyone moved away, even some dude who left his daughter to be hit by the ball right on the shoulder; it was brutal and funny at the same time. The mother didn't know what to do, confort the girld or be mad at her husband.

Got a hotdog and a beer tight before the game, so its game time and right from the get-go the Mets were in control and hitting Tim Hudson's pitches hard. A 5-0 lead after 4 innings and some great pitching by R.A. Dickey (whoa his parents must have hated him) pretty much sealed it for the Braves. I was so cold and I had no jacket so I had to get some hot chocolate to help me get through the game.

At around the 7th inning I decided to walk around the ball park to see all it has to offer. Check all the pics here. Had to much to eat so I made a pitstop and right at that moment Brian McCann hits a dinger which I missed.

As I was to take the subway back to the hotel I decided to leave at the top of the 9th inning to try and not be all tight on the way back. Missed the braves 3 run ninth but the game was sealed and ended 6-4. Took the 7 all the way to Times Square and made the quick 8 block walk to the hotel.
All in all a great day, got to see a spectacular Beatles concert (the closest to seeing them live in my opinion) walk around Times Square, buy a couple of things and catch a baseball game along with getting to know the new stadium.

Back to the hotel which is pretty crappy but in a great location. I'm so tired right now so I'll just hang around and get ready for the start of the 8th Annual International Cloud Computing Expo tomorrow at he Jvist Convention Center, for now...

MrKhakbaz out!!!

NY Blog, travel day

So I get to Monterrey's airport pretty early (1015 for a 1235 flight) since the flight will be pretty much empty checking and security goes so quickly. Enough time to grab breakfast and sit around for a while tweeting with friends.

Boarding & everything goes quickly. We get one of those small ass planes, the kind that has 1 seat on one side and two on the othe and about 18 rows; I have no problem with that, the thing is they area made for short people, not that I'm tall (5-11.785, dang so close to 6 feet) and I hit my head when I stand totally upright.

A quick hour and 20 minutes later we touch down in Houston. Holy crap IAH is a huuuuge airport, I walk like 10 minutes at full speed only to get to immigration. A long line awaits, and by long I mean long and slow enough to get me nervous that I may miss my connection or that I won't be able to get my bag and pass customs and drop it off to get onto the plane. It's about 1:20 and I gotta board the plane to Newark at 3:05, time keeps passing and the line is moving sloooooow, about half way they open another couple of booths which helps out a ton. Finally at about 2:25 I make it past immigration and I'm off to the races.

I get my bag, go though customs and drop It off. Quick bathroom stop and we're off to the races to make it to the gate and hopefully get something to eat. At 3:10 I'm near the gate and all I could get my hands on was a coke and some cheetos. Junk food that saved me for the 3 hour flight from Houston to Jersey. As soon as I get to the gate they annouce boarding for rows 22 to 30 -I'm on 28 so its time.
Flight goes without a hitch. I love Continental on long flights as, even in coach, we get a individual screens. I got to catch a Big Bang Theory show and some games





Also got to see Hall Pass on the iPad and a couple of CSI Las Vegas episodes, also read a little. Gotta love the iPad for long boring trips. So after 3 hours we touch down at Newark about 20 minutes before schedule so we had to wait on the runway for the gate to clear. Another long walk to get to baggage claim, thankfully my bag got here.

I was going to catch a cab but the line was like 50 group long so I took a 15 dollar bus trip right to Times Square. Holy shit didn't remember how amazing this place is. Seriously, Manhattan is beautiful. Form the skyline right before the Lincoln Tunnel to getting onto 42nd street from 9th avenue. Made the short walk down to 33rd and 7th to the Pennsilvania Hotel which is right in front of Madison Square Garden. The hotel lobby is pretty nice, checked in and got up to the 11th floor. The floor halls are pretty old and the rooms are old and small. The one thing I love is the bathroom, it just screams NY.

After resting a couple of minutes I went out to catch something to eat at about 10pm. For the first time ever I had White Castle to eat, for anyone who has seen Harold and Kumar you know this is the holy grail. Damn it didn't dissapoint, had 4 sliders (small burgers that are amazing! 4 seems a lot but they are sooo small). Walked around the hotel area a bit, got some ice cream and headed back to the room.
Up at the room it was time to unpack and iron out clothes and then catch SportsCenter and wind down as it had been a long day.

Hoping tomorrow kicks off what should be an amazing week in New York, but for now...

Mr Khakbaz checking out!

1st post from iPad

So i got my other blog up at mrkhakbaz.blogspot.com but i'm trying wordpress mainly due to the fact they have an ipad app.

I just got my ipad2 a couple of days ago. I've been looking to sell or trade my 2.5 year old macbook, not because I don't like it but mainly because I don't use it. Since I got my computer from the office I never use it; heck, it's been 6 months since I turned it on.

So on wednesday this guys asks about my laptop on Mercado Libre, which is the mexican version of eBay. In less than 2 hours we completed the trade and i got my 16GB ipad and he got his macbook. Fair deal, good business.

So I post mainly about sports and tech stuff. Lets se how this goes, for now...

MrKhakbaz out!!!

iPhone 4 iBooks commercial

>Right now I'm watching the Lakers-Hornets game and a cool Apple iPhone4 commercial came up. Apple is known to be great with marketing; heck, they are awesome. They are so damn good they make the iPad seem like a needable product.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNtoJerwV4]

This video I'm talking about for the iPhone4 and its compatibility with iBooks. I find it interesting how they focus on both the smartphone and the e-reader industry. We all know how huge the smartphone market is, and recently the e-reader world has exploded onto the scene (The report from the Association of American Publishers, showed February’s eBook sales were $90.3m (£55.2m), compared to $81.2m (£49.8m) in paperbacks, a leap of 202.3% on the same time last year. For more go to t3.com) so it seems logical that Apple will go all-out and try to conquer that market and beat out gadgets like the Kindle, Nook and to some degree the iPad.

Interesting how Apple pushed the iPhone as an e-reader along with the iPad2. Cross marketing and also competition within the company.

Your thoughts???

Mr Khakbaz out!!!

1st iPad2 TV Ad

Interesting 1st TV ad for the Apple iPad2



Interesting new focus that Apple takes, on how technology is not the most important thing. “Technology alone is not enough,” the voice says, “Faster, thinner, lighter — those are all good things, but when technology gets out of the way, everything becomes more delightful, even magical.”

Visually it’s very similar to Apple’s first iPad ad, as it featured a close-up of a finger launching new apps by touching the device’s screen. Yet the approach is really different

Apple sold out of the product on the weekend it was released, March 14, according to reports.

Thoughts???

Mr Khakbaz out!!!