Living With Inbox by Google..

So while most thought that email had had its days, the guys at Gmail think otherwise, and this new refreshing tool (lets be honest thats what it is) gives us much needed functionality which I can easily see incorporated into email clients over the coming years.

After first impressions my favorite feature most definitely has to be the snooze function that the team have incorporate so effortlessly into the usual email architecture, adorable in equal measure to that snooze button that everyone enjoys when they just don't want to roll out of bed, the elegance by which one can either choose to be reminded at a future date or time or by geolocation is genius. Mirroring how Boomerang transformed sending emails, Inbox helps you manage rather then forget those emails that you don't want to see right now but want to see later.

Everything from, receiving that email from your energy company asking you to submit a meter reading in the middle of the day when you busy at work and miles away, to that dinner reservation that you just don't have time right now to follow up on, all become simpler, no more is there a need to set reminders in your diary, or write quick scruffy notes on post-its, all that is required is to put your email on ice, and have it thaw exactly when you want.

Along with the snooze and reminders functions, the team have conjured up interesting and new ways of sorting emails into groups (Bundles) in an attempt to economise on viewing and sorting mail. Although being very much an extension of its tab's email sorting function, mixed together with an elegant UI, and the ability to create custom groups, the user is put in the driving seat and given the ability to make the experience their own.

Initial Verdicts are nothing but praiseworthy - Great Move Google!

Bend? or just bending the truth?

As everyone is probably more then aware, in recent times, iPhone releases have come hand in hand with some type of controversy, the iPhone 4, had antennagate, the iPhone 5 was coming out of the box with dings and scratches (scratchgate), and now the iPhone 6 seems to suffer from bendgate.

The first two issues were verified and dealt with accordingly by Apple, but at the moment it is too soon to suggest that bendgate is a real issue that Apple will need to target head on. From the videos flooding the internet, one thing which is clear is that the forces that are being applied to iPhones to get them to show any signs of bending would be impossible to replicate if the phones were being used for their intended purposes. Although some users have suggested that such bending has occurred while their phones have been in their pockets, looking objectively at how and where the devices are giving way and how reviewers have replicated such bending on their videos, what becomes questionable is the ability for such forces to be applied while an iPhone is contained within a pocket.

All materials have weak points, I am pretty sure I could also bend an iPhone 5, a samsung galaxy, or a HTC one, if I really tried. Bearing this in mind one should look pragmatically at the claims that the iPhone 6 is bendy, especially when the persons facial expression from trying to bend an iPhone seems to replicate a person desperately trying to induce bowl movements while having a severe case of constipation...    

Here come the newbies... iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Watch, and a U2 freebie

Behind the curve but ahead of the game -

While Apple has been accused of playing catch up by a host of competitors and early on Apple stock has taken a 1.5% dive, what remains beyond doubt is the fact that Apple is a game changer, unless you go back to the Apple I  everything in Apples modern history has been a reincarnation of some technology that failed to launch. Smart phones existed prior to the iPhone, MP3 players before the iPod and tablets before the iPad. But with the release of each of these products a market was defined and consumer wants were turned into consumer needs.

What Apple have a knack for is building products that people want. It's true that NFC has been included in numerous high and mid range android devices over the past few years, but the fact remains that using mobile phones to make payments at a point of sale never really took off, but with Apples drive towards using NFC for its Apple Pay platform, we are sure to see a surge in the number of people using the technology for this purpose.

A perfect example of this resonates in the newly uncovered and well received Apple Watch. Its fare to say that smart watches existed prior to the unveiling of the Apple Watch yesterday yet, Apple have finally legitimised the market for such a device, a year ago, the device category existed, yet I'm pretty sure that you would have been hard pressed to find someone who owned one, and even if on a rare occasion you did come across someone with one, I'm also pretty sure you would have written off the experience to the person being an eccentric. What this tells us is that the clout that Apple has far outweighs the power of its competition, just because the competition adopt a new technology does not mean that they are able to make game changing moves, this therefore reveals not Apples ability to give consumers new technology when they want it (as many commentators suggest) but rather Apples ability to tell consumers exactly what they want.

Many businesses succeed because of the excellence of their services - they simply do everything better then everyone else, others because of the simplicity of their products and finally the last group because they bring products and services into the market that change our lives so much that we systematically change the way we live our lives and therefore are bound to such advancements. What Apple does is all of the above but at the same time their focus remains on telling us what we need, so long as the company can woo the masses and create a desire for its products the company will remain at the pinnacle of the industry.

I guess in light of all the press, the good and the bad,  one is always reminded of the little but impactful story of the tortoise and the hare...

The one more thing moment..... Apple Watch...

"The Next Chapter in Apples Story" (Cook)

Annnnddddd the dates set... 9/9/2014 - Apple drop clue on iPhone 6 release

Apple have confirmed that they will be holding an event on the 9th of September, plenty have been waiting patiently and we all know whats coming, the real question is what else is coming?

In the meantime checkout this video thats surfaced on the internet with what seems to be a working iPhone 6.

Stay tuned...

UPDATE: 31/08/2014 -

So plenty of speculation and iPhone insides aren't really whats making the headlines, but just a quick update, NFT seems to be a hot favourite in the new phone lineup and also Apple seem to be sticking with 16gb as their entry lineup, obviously all of this is down to speculation so don't quote me on it :)

The real headlines are in relation to the upcoming release of some form of wearable device, call it an iWatch or whatever Apple will end up calling it, but many speculators believe that the grand unveiling will happen on the 9th of Sep, while many seem to think that Apple will not drop this product in time for the christmas rush I think otherwise. If a wearable device is unveiled then expect it to hit the shelves by mid to late October...

anyway peeps... stay tuned, the next week is going to include mountains of speculation but only time will tell...

Why Apples budget iMac makes sense...

So as many reviews online have been stating Apples new budget iMac is one to stay away from, some have gone as far as saying Apple is short-changing customers by giving them 50% less computer for a 18% reduction in price.

Whats important here is the question of - Who Apple is attempting to attract with such machines? I do not believe for one second that the consumer desktop market is what Apple are hoping to take over with this reduced price iteration, but rather it is obvious that Apple have set its sights on the Corporate / B2B customer. Most B2B customers buy in bulk and do not run processor intensive tasks, many run VMware off dedicated servers hence the box that its employees sit in front of is merely an input/output device connecting the person to the companies server, with this in mind all that computer offers is access to a network and hence the hardware requirements for such computers is minimal. The question therefore becomes - Is $1099 not too much to spend when windows equivalents can be easily procured for a fraction of the price, my guess would be that Apple will not only offer huge discounts to its Corporate clients, but may even lease out the machines with support packages providing them with extremely fruitful business.

Apple is well positioned currently to push forward with such a move, especially as 97% of fortune 500 companies currently endorse the iPhone and 98% use the iPad in some way, shape, or form, therefore meaning that the Computer is the final piece of the puzzle for Apple.  

If done correctly Apple can not only begin to pry away enterprise customers from Microsofts dominant base but, it could signal yet another new beginning for Apple. For those cynics that thought Apple is close to having its day, I would say watch-out, as from where i'm sitting, Apple is far from done with being market leader and i'm pretty certain that we will be seeing a lot more of Apple, whether it be at work or at home.

Some Thought On Apple

Apple is evolving, some may over look its discounted MacBook Pro’s as still being too expensive but if you look objectively at each lineup they have become hardware leaders in their class and are also massively competitive. $1099 for a 13" MacBook Pro would rank amongst the best bargains when comparing, build quality, longevity, and user experience.

Apple have a simple equation when it comes to product design, its marketing is equally simple, It focuses on what the world wants and then builds the best product that it can. Sometimes this takes time, other-times its quite obvious that an iteration has been held back for a future release, as long as it does not make a habit out of the second point it will continue to prosper. As the company matures its strategy has been slightly modified but on a whole it would be easy to suggest that Apple has been able to do something that most could only dream of, this is of cause is moulding the perfect customers. Apple is great at telling its customers what they want, such is its influence that the products of other manufactures hang in the balance until Apple make their move. A clear example of this is the currently sluggish take up of smart watches. One can almost certainly guarantee that as soon as Apple begins to sell its highly anticipated iWatch sales for all other types of smart watch will soar through the roof.

As a company, having the ability to convince customers that they are making lifestyle choices when they purchase your products is an extremely fortunate position hold, while the market is flooded with functional equivalents, in the world of business, fortune does not bestow itself upon anyone, fortune needs to be worked for, and Apple work damn hard, hence the reason why Apple is still able to charge hundreds of dollars above competitors prices, and we could go as far as to suggest that it is also the reason why it has been able to single handily created the fortunate market of premium products that its competitors now also occupy.

If one was to take a step back and question why anyone would pay over $500 for a mobile phone when one could also be bought for $100, to most the idea would sound ludicrous, but Apple has been able to fashion perceptions as far as making people believe that there is rather then a material want, a material need for the consumption of its products. The technology industry has always been about wowing people into believing in the necessity for the products and services that it produces, Today we have no iWatch, there is no real reason why we would need a smart watch, but nevertheless in years to come people will question how they lived their lives without such a device.

Over the years Apple have gone from being a quirky, artsy, or hippy company, to a a company that nearly went bankrupt, the genius commitment to music, helped shoot the stock price through the stratosphere, and kickstarted its journey to dominance. What has carried through its whole journey has been its dedication to a slogan that it first used in the 1970's. Apples dedication to simplicity has always been well founded and as long as it maintains its focus on this ethos, its dominant run can continue to march forward.