Seth Weintraub

Web 2.0 Expo NY 2010: John Gruber, “Apple and the Open Web”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qss5RnD7wK8&w=640&h=385]
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Chase has been doing this for months and other banks have been doing it for years but Paypal will soon accept checks via iPhone (and iPod touch?) camera.

Chambers said that this new app will allow you to take a picture of the front and back of a check with your iPhone camera, and it will be added to your PayPal balance.

The Square iPhone app is taking a bigger step by eliminating the check altogether but you’ll need to purchase a little piece of hardware for that.  Paypal only needs your iPhone camera.

This is helping grease the wheels of the economy people!

Updated Paypal app will be here in the next few days.
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Some interesting info coming out of the requisite AppleTV teardown from iFixit.  First off, the AppleTV has an 8GB Samsung Flash chip but room for another 8GB  (v2 1080P version?).  While most of that space is probably reserved for caching movies, a few apps could use this space to build a home.

The Panasonic board that contains the Broadcom Wifi chip also has an FM radio.  Apple could enable this at some point (or some hackers could like the Droid 2) or maybe it just came along for the ride?

Same A4 and 256 MB of RAM as the iPad or iPod touch.  Good news for App developers.

And finally, a curious array of connections that coincidentally lines up with Apple’s 30-pin dock connector (below).
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Engadget reviewed the AppleTV box today and got some more details on Apple’s new service (better HD quality than Amazon – nice!).  We had thought the previous reviewers forgot to try out Airplay on a 4.2 Beta iOS device.  But it turns out that even the 4.2 betas don’t yet allow AirPlay video to happen.  Audio currently works in iOS 4.2 Beta as we showed you a few weeks ago.

Unfortunately, AirPlay is only available right now for audio, and won’t have its full implementation in place until November. Apple did demo the video pushing feature for us using an iPad, and the system worked flawlessly, save for a tiny lag in between sending the video and it popping up on the Apple TV. There are some lingering questions we have, however. For instance, we were told that while you can multitask on a device you’re pushing content from, you can’t put it to sleep, even if it’s docked or charging. That means the screen will dim, but not shut off entirely, which seems like a weird choice. Hopefully the company will add some kind of charging awareness that allows you to pick some content, dock the device, and sleep the screen.

Airplay is probably the biggest differentiator between AppleTV and the rest of the connected TV boxes out there so it is a disappointment to hear it won’t be available until just before Christmas, though it does explain why Apple isn’t hyping AirPlay as much as we feel it deserves.

BTW, we double-checked Engadget’s facts over AIM to make sure they tried with iOS 4.2 Beta 2 (see below).
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What?  You thought Autodesk was kidding when they said they’d be releasing a version of their software for iOS devices?  Well, AutoCAD WS just hit the App Store (free) for those who’d like to touch their CAD rather than use a mouse.

View, edit, and share your DWG™ files from anywhere, with anyone.

AutoCAD® WS mobile app enables you to view and work with AutoCAD drawings directly on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch. Using the touch and gesture interface of your iPad or iPhone you can accurately view, annotate, and revise drawings on the spot. Change the way you work in the field or on the road by reducing the need to carry around over-sized paper drawings.

Via Maggadget. Additional screenshots below:
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From the Toys Section:

Amazon has iLife for $44.29.  That’s a pretty significant discount (44% off) on Apple’s suite of consumer applications and may signal a clearing of inventory for iLife ’11 which is ..um..due.  (Update: 5 user Family pack is only $55)

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If you’ve upgraded your iPad to the new beta released last night, you are probably noticing reliability and speed improvements that are making it much faster than even 3.1.3. It looks like Apple has done some major tweaking to the iOS, which is now using fewer resources.  iPadevice noticed that the new firmware is also going easier on the precious little of the iPad’s 256MB of RAM:

That’s more space to cache web pages and do background tasks, which also seem to be flowing by.

Today at TechCrunch Disrupt, Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave his take on Open-ness by comparing to Apple’s ‘closed’ system:

Interesting take from a ‘proud former board member’
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You know you want it…

Update:

–iPad multitasking gets refined animation

–New YouTube video uploading options

–New Game Center compatibility indicators on mobile iOS App Store

Bonus: iTunes 10.1 which supports printing:

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OK, this Internet TV thing is just getting kinda nuts right now.  A few months ago, the best thing you could hope for was a $600 Mac Mini with a Logitech diNovo Mini keyboard to get Hulu and Netflix and the rest of your movie collection into your living room with any sort of elegance.  What a difference a few months makes.

Now with $99 AppleTV arriving in people’s homes and $200+ Boxee Box and GoogleTV coming at some undisclosed point in the future, everyone seems to want to share everything everywhere.  And that’s great!

Roku/Hulu announced today that they’d be coming to those cheap little streaming Roku boxes.  Incidentally, so did Tivo. So for $10/month plus a $60 down, you can pretty much have basic cable over Internet. Cut the cord! (except that its probably the same coaxial cable that brings your Internet)

I’m really hoping to see Apple to announce a similar Hulu deal for AppleTV.  Hulu Plus already exists on iOS devices so there isn’t a technical issue and if it is on Roku, there is no legal issue related to TV streams.  Soooo….

Let consumers decide whether they want to pay $1-$3/episode on iTunes or $10 + commercials for on-demand TV. If Netflix can be blessed on AppleTV, then why not Hulu?  Oh, and how about some international rollouts Hulu while  we’re at it?

Full Press Roku-Hulu release below:

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Update: Barron’s reports that Cook said this was BS over coffee this morning.

The empty desk roulette wheel at HP was sure to come around and hit Apple COO Tim Cook at some time.  Today, those rumors materialize at ZeroHedge via Business Insider.  The news dropped AAPL stock price this morning 20 points, but it subsequently rebounded.  How convenient.

The question is: Would Cook rather run HP or wait a few years and head up Apple, a bigger (more interesting) company by market cap?  (Maybe he misses Jon Rubinstein?)

Though, if HP hasn’t been making overtures to Cook, why are they taking so long to formalize the position with Todd Bradley, who seems like a shoe-in at this point?

That’s not to say Cook shouldn’t take this opportunity to renegotiate his contract. :D

Chances? We’re thinking <10%
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Version 2 just hit the App Store with some new features:

The new Remote.app also gets updated to Retina on the iPhone 4 and better takes advantage of the real estate of the iPad.  The shared libraries feature should also make playing video much easier (rather than having to open the video and click the AirPlay button).

If you look at the new iPad version, the interface is almost like the iTunes desktop interface!

And don’t forget that new icon!

Lots of new screenshots below:

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The first we’ve seen is from Clayton Morris at FoxNews, but more are likely in the pipeline as the embargo is lifted.  You aren’t going to learn much if you’ve already seen the One More Thing keynote, but as we’ve talked about, AirPlay is the differentiator:

AirPlay is the new feature I’m most excited about. It lets you share your movies, music and photos across all of your Apple devices. This feature won’t be entirely ready when Apple TV launches, but Tuesday Apple will release a new version of the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad remote app that’ll let users AirPlay music back and forth.So here’s how it works. Let’s say I’m out watching an episode of Star Trek on my iPad. When I walk in my front door I can continue watching that same episode on my ginormous HDTV with the flick of a finger, and vice versa. How handy is that? Apple told me the company has opened this feature to third-party developers, and that’s where my imagination runs wild. Think of the possibilities! Imagine the apps you could be flicking back and forth across all of your iDevices: NPR, Netflix, YouTube, MLB, Hulu, Internet Radio, Pandora, the list goes on. AirPlay could be the most important Apple announcement in years.

AirPlay is what turns hobbies into products.
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The New Yorker iPad app, strategically priced at $4.95/issue – about five times the subscription to the paper version – goes on sale today.  Also, just to prove that they ‘get’ online, the post about the app and the accompanying story from the New Yorker don’t contain a link to the actual app (there’s a freebie).  Also the entertaining intro video is in Flash (with that dude from Rushmore) which is also not so iPad friendly.

http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1827871374

Don’t get me wrong, I love the New Yorker. I just wish as a current subscriber, I could have it on my iPad as well without paying five times as much as I’ve already paid.
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Yahoo’s CEO Carol Bartz warned last month that Apple’s iAds would fall apart. So far, here’s how iAds are doing in booking mobile app ads for December vs. Yahoo and the rest according to Bloomberg:

thanks for the graphic

Also interesting that Apple has matched Google in its first December.
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The New York Times asks why Apple gets a disproportionately large amount of news coverage compared to say Microsoft or even Google?

A new study confirms what some in the technology industry have long sensed: that Apple commands an inordinate amount of the media’s attention.

A yearlong look at technology news coverage by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism found that 15.1 percent of tech articles were primarily about Apple; 11.4 percent were about Google; and a meager 3 percent were about Microsoft.

It’s not as if Microsoft lacks for public relations people. But Apple is especially effective at seizing journalists’ attention, said Amy S. Mitchell, the deputy director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, citing the anticipation for new devices and Apple’s “very public way of releasing products.”

Besides the fact that Apple is the largest tech company on earth by market cap, people just like reading about Apple.  The New York Times wouldn’t have even have to have left their offices to find that out according to Macjournals.  In Ex Apple CEO  Gilbert Amelio’s book, On the Firing Line, he quotes the Times:
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Microsoft tries again on October 21st according to reports. Here’s their angle: Spend less time on your Smartphone.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvV6_t3crlk&w=640&h=505]

Another one below.
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The DOJ did what it does and told Apple and others (Adobe Systems Inc., Google Inc., Intel Corp., Intuit Inc. and Pixar) to stop entering into anti-competitive agreements with other high tech companies.  The agreements between the companies limited recruiters from each company from cold calling employees at the other companies, amongst other things.

Google posted a Public Policy Blog statement on the matter:

In order to maintain a good working relationship with these companies, in 2005 we decided not to “cold call” employees at a few of our partner companies. Our policy only impacted cold calling, and we continued to recruit from these companies through LinkedIn, job fairs, employee referrals, or when candidates approached Google directly. In fact, we hired hundreds of employees from the companies involved during this time period.

I think Apple and Google long ago gave up on refraining from hiring each other’s employees.

Full release below:
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Our old friend Digitimes has another interesting tale up today.  They’re forecasting lots of smaller screen MacBooks being sold in 2010.  Yes 2010 is almost over isn’t it?

Quanta has reportedly landed orders for 11.6-inch MacBooks from Apple. Shipments of 11.6-inch MacBooks are expected to top 400,000-500,000 units in 2010.

(*Looks at watch*) It is now September 2010 so that would mean that Apple would be updating its MacBook line in oh, say October, with smaller more bad ass new products, perhaps with external USB3 Superdrives that blur the lines between MacBook and MacBook Air.

Oh, and don’t you dare call it a Netbook!
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Seems everyone from Facebook to Microsoft thinks they can make a smartphone these days.  But, we actually like a lot of what Mozilla has thought up in their Seabird Concept (below), created by Billy May.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oG3tLxEQEdg&w=670&h=400]

There is a 3D version of course

Mozilla has no plans to build such a thing unfortunately, which makes the exercise all that more easy and a tease…like your proverbial mother.

Via TC.

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http://online.wsj.com/media/swf/VideoMicroPlayer.swf

I need to take a “Working Vacation” to Paris.  Who wants to pay me for that trip/story?
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