I’m no fan of Microsoft, but I will give them credit when it is due. First of all, they gave Dean Cain a job, and second, they are trying to convince the luddites still using IE 6 (or gasp, older) to upgrade to IE 8.
While I would rather people ditch IE altogether, I’m a realist and understand that many people will stick with whatever piece of crap Microsoft shoves down their gullet. And IE 8 is a lot less crappier than IE 6 or 7, so I’m all for this. Go ahead Microsoft, knock yourself out.
Category: News
With the most recent Macbook Pro updates, Apple has finally extended the “Pro” to a Macbook with a screen smaller than 15″. Apple’s previous diminutive pro machine, the Powerbook G4 12″, was discontinued years ago, but many fans of the machine clamored for something smaller than the 15″. With the Macbook Pro 13″, Apple has given these fans something to be excited about.
Of course, the new Macbook Pro is very close in appearance and features to the Macbook 13″ Unibody machine it replaces. The big additions come in the way of Firewire 800, Backlit Keyboard, SD Memory Slot, and of course, the built-in 7 hour battery. Additionally, Apple bumped the CPU speeds and memory/hard drive capacity, all while lowering the prices. In short, Apple has really out done itself with this release of portable computers.
(more…)
Category: News
In case you missed it, Daniel Lyons, writing as the Fake Steve Jobs, is back. Now that Jobs is back to work, Lyons has resumed posting under the Fake Steve moniker. As Fake Steve himself says, “I’m back bitches, deal with it.”
Sure, it’s satire. But it’s incredibly insightful, funny, and more often than not – truthful.
Category: News
While AT&T tries to figure out what it wants to screw, er, I mean charge its customers for iPhone tethering, some enterprising young person has figured out a way to enable it on your iPhone for free, for many different carriers. Configuration appears to be drop dead easy, requiring you only to point your iPhone’s browser to http://help.benm.at/, selecting your carrier, and connecting your iPhone to your computer. That’s it.
Of course, don’t blame us if your carrier finds out what you are doing and decides to charge you for it.
Category: News
You’ve got to see this video of an iPhone 3GS recording a lazy day by the pool, and then becoming the story itself when it accidentally gets dropped in the pool – and continues recording video while it is fished out of the pool.
Not sure if this is legit or not, but as someone who has had his iPod Shuffle run through the wash, I can tell you that if you take steps immediately to turn off a web iPod, and let it fully dry before powering back on, they usually survive getting wet. (more…)
Category: News
Aforementioned article brings up good point – that app store reviewers may be offshore personnel. Would certainly explain a lot if they are.
Category: News
Great post about the problems with being an iPhone developer. http://bit.ly/w4sxl #wwdc #iphone
Category: News
Leslie Cauley, writing for USAToday:
Apple’s (AAPL) unique treatment of the new Skype Internet calling feature on the iPhone — the free app works only on Wi-Fi, not the cellular or 3G network — is raising concern among public-policymakers and consumer advocates.
They say it’s a clear example of AT&T (T), the sole carrier of the iPhone in the U.S., trying to handicap a direct competitor.
First of all, AT&T is a wireless provider. Skype is a (psuedo) wireless provider. Why should AT&T be required to allow access to Skype over it’s 3G network? AT&T has every right to deny Apple and Skype the ability to route VoIP calls over it’s 3G network.
Leslie’s article quotes acting FCC Chairman Michael Cops:
“In the fast-changing world of technology, you have to constantly revisit the rules and regulations to make sure they’re in accord with the real world.”
The one thing missing from the article – which qualifies it for idiocy – is that there is no mention of the iPod Touch.
You see, you can completely bypass AT&T by using a 2nd generation iPod Touch with Skype. Of course, you are still required to make your calls over WiFi, but you also don’t get locked in to a long term AT&T contract.
Of course, citing that fact would have made all of the whining in the article seem childish, so I can fully understand Ms. Cauley not bringing that fact up.
Category: News
Earlier this week, Apple unveiled iPhone OS 3.0. Coming this summer, iPhone OS 3.0 offers approximately 100 new features for end users, and over 1000 new features for developers. If you follow these types of things, you’ve already read much about what to expect. Here’s a few of my thoughts and perceptions.
First off – iPhone OS 3.0 delivers just about everything I was looking for in the next release. The one omission is video recording. We know that the iPhone is capable of such a feature because there is already an application that does this for jailbroken iPhones. The only reason I can think of that Apple didn’t include this feature is that they are holding it back to accompany a hardware update at some point in the future. Or, that the feature is in development but just isn’t fully baked yet. Either way, the very fact that this is one of the last features Apple has yet to implement on the iPhone is a good sign that they have delivered just about everything users were asking for. Being all things to all people isn’t easy, but Apple is doing a great of just of being just that.
One feature that (some) developers were hoping for but didn’t get is background processing. Apple made a point of demonstrating how background processing goes through battery life like the Octomom goes through diapers. Apple’s solution is the long delayed push notification API. This API, which was originally promised for iPhone 2.0 is now slated for 3.0. Apple demoed it with AIM, and it seems to do the trick. As a user, I’d like background processing, but not at the expense of having a fully drained device inside of an hour. Since the iPhone is – you guessed it – a phone, this is obviously an inexcusable side effect.
Other random thoughts:
Opening up the app store to GPS apps that offer turn by turn directions is huge. The iPhone is on the verge of becoming a fully usable GPS device. The only question remaining is how much the developers of said apps will charge. Both Garmin and Tom Tom have stated they are working on such apps. But both companies will be very careful how they price their app. Price it too low and they risk cannabalizing GPS unit sales. Price it too high and they risk being beaten in this market by the lower priced player. Turn by turn directions is probably the feature I am most looking forward to.
The Peer to Peer functioanlity is huge. It adds yet another tool for game developers to create rich gaming experiences.
Apple’s announcement that there are 30 million iPhone OS devices is game changing. They’ve built this market in less than 2 years. It’s not unrealistic to expect this market to grow by 20 million units in 2009. I haven’t seen recent figures on the number of Macs running OS X in the wild, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple has more devices running iPhone OS than Mac OS X at this point. If not, iPhone OS devices will probably outnumber OS X devices by the end of the year.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Apple will continue to move more and more in the direction of producing iPhone OS devices. Apple has already shown a lack of interest in desktop Macs. I’m not saying that Apple will be getting out of the Mac market, but clearly you devote resources to the line of business that is making you more money. And the iPhone OS line, with sheer numbers of units sold, revenue sharing from carriers, and 30% of all apps sold offers the biggest revenue driver for the company. Apple would be crazy not to prioritize it.
And finally, this little thought: Snow Leopard is supposed to be released this summer. Yet the last look the public got at it was at WWDC 2007. Apple has already demonstrated iPhone OS to the world, and given developers access to the SDK and OS firmware update. How come OS X developers aren’t getting the same courtesy? As a developer, I’d like a little heads up as to when Snow Leopard is shipping.
Category: News
During the 1990′s, Steve Jobs was interviewed for a PBS special entitled “The Triumph of the Nerds: The Rise of Accidental Empires”. During his interview with Robert Cringely, Jobs’ made this statement:
“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. They have absolutely no taste. And I don’t mean that in a small way, I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas, and they don’t bring much culture into their products.”
I can think of no better example than this.
Sure, it’s the ad that’s cheesy. I haven’t used the software itself, so I can’t comment on its quality. But it speaks to the lack of control Microsoft has of its own image. Nothing even remotely this bad would ever come out of Cupertino under Jobs leadership. And if something this heinous was able to slip out of Apple, you can bet that whomever was responsible would be fired.
Category: News
