Last week, there was a bit of a fuss made over prominent Hackintosher Stell’s contention that new 10.6.2 beta builds were killing support for Atom chips. It appears that fears of the loss of Atom’s support were unfounded because the latest developer build (10C535) re-enables support for Intel’s Netbook processor.
Wow, didn
With the App Store now holding over 100,000 apps, one would figure that only a few would enjoy the type of success that the big guys get. Appsfire’s agrees and has some actual numbers on what happens along the looooong tail:
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The smartphone wars continue, with a bevy of touch-type-phones attempting to cast a dent in the Apple iPhone broadside, but in Australia at least, iPhone appears set to become Australia
Not a VMWare fan? There
Apple boss, Steve Jobs, took a lot of convincing to embrace the name
Apple has introduced a new wave of music-related movies on iTunes, gathering these together in the new
Following the 9.9.09 debut of the digitally re-mastered catalogue on CD, Apple Corps and EMI Music have announced the worldwide release of a limited edition of only 30,000 Beatles Stereo USB ‘apples’ on December 7 (December 8 in North America).
The music ships on an apple-shaped USB drive (groan) loaded with the re-mastered audio for The Beatles
Ars today questions the recent rumors that NVIDIA might be entering the x86 processor market and taking Intel on directly. The evidence claims come from industry rumors and the fact that NVIDIA is hiring up a lot of x86 talent including employees from Transmeta.
NVIDIA recently announced that it would be giving up its chipset work on Core and Nehalem series processors – which Apple use in their products – due to the ongoing litigation with Intel.
Bad NVIDIA chipsets had plagued Apple’s MacBooks and other industry products requiring Apple to provide unprecedented 3-year warranty replacement on bad motherboards.
Apple has a strong relationship with NVIDIA, using their chipsets in most of their current Macintosh products. NVIDIA making x86 processors might lure Apple into changing processor providers, though unlikely. Ars speculates that any NVIDIA x86 processors would likely be low to mid-range, at least initially.
AT&T is suing Verizon because it believes the “There’s a Map for That” advertising is misleading. AT&T contend that the maps shown confuse the customer into believing there is no coverage at all in the white spots on AT&T’s map when in fact there is either EDGE or GPRS service in a lot of those areas.
Maybe those attorney fees would be better spent on adding towers/capacity and working on that map, AT&T?
Even though it is the highest rated mobile phone on their own site, they say, as a phone, it is the worst. They cite poor mic and speakers, dropped or unreachable calls a a host of other issues.
It may be the highest-rated mobile phone on CNET UK, rocking the pockets of half of our crack editorial team. It’s certainly the touchscreen face that launched a thousand apps. But as an actual call-making phone, it’s rubbish, and we aim to prove it.
Strange because we don’t have iPhone connectivity issues over here in the US?
It is hard to make out but it looks like these guys are using XP on their machines. Is there any possible way Microsoft would let their front facing employees use XP?
By the way, that looks like the guy from our caption contest.
See the guy at the right, he’s a Microsoft “Answer Bar” worker. But he needs a caption. Can anyone help him out?
via FakeSteve.
Mac|Life put together a string of all of Apple product announcements since Jobs’ return to introduce the iMac. Condensed, it makes for quite a show.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdCU2Kyo2f8&hl=en&fs=1&]
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Hopes that moving into a multi-carrier strategy in the UK would generate a price war have been dashed by Orange’s announcement of price tariffs matching those of O2. Now the story takes a tragic turn, with the revelation that Orange’s terms and conditions for iPhone service suck too much – even use of Facebook and Spotify could be forbidden under these.
Not just that, but Orange seems happy to use the word “unlimited” in relation to a limited data service with a 750MB cap (so, like, 375 emails with a picture). While it may be permitted to use that word in that way under UK 21st century doublespeak advertising law may be true, but most of us can tell when unlimited doesn’t mean unlimited.
Overall, Orange’s offer at present looks likely to be a huge step forward – for O2.
After all, part of the new UK carrier’s proposition is that it has a better 3G network and better coverage (it does), but what precisely is the point of using an iPhone on that network when you can’t use the applications you want to use on it, and when you need to keep your usage in check under some limited data cap.
What seems likely to us is that those customers who had held off on buying an iPhone from O2 because they preferred Orange will likely reconsider – Orange has sufficiently hobbled its offer that O2 looks like the prime contender, despite its frustrations.
Now, we’re not big marketing types, nor are we CEO’s of any major corporations, nor are we deep inside a corporate management structure, but let’s face it – spending two years negotiating a deal to carry a product and then offering it in such a way that incumbent competitors have a better offer isn’t ever going to be a path to business success.
Now, we know the 750Mb limited-unlimited Orange deal got looked at yesterday, but what Macworld UK today spotted just takes the biscuit.
Look at these terms and conditions governing use of the iPhone on Orange: “Not to be used for other activities (eg using your handset as a modem, non-Orange internet based streaming services, voice or video over the internet, instant messaging, peer to peer file sharing, non-Orange internet based video). Should such use be detected notice may be given and Network protection controls applied to all services which Orange does not believe constitutes mobile browsing."
Pondering these limitations in Oranges limited unlimited but limited deal, a BBC reporter this morning suggests: "It sounds as though services like Spotify, AudioBoo, Ustream and even Facebook messaging – increasingly popular with O2 iPhone customers – will be out of bounds for Orange users."
Way I see it, if I’m going to fight for the right to offer a device which is already known to attract users who like to fully utilise data services, and as part of my pitch for business plan to extol the integrity of my network, then offering potential customers such limited network use is just plain stupid.
Orange must revise its deal before November 10, or make AT&T (and O2) look good.
The thousands of potential customers who signed-up to get an iPhone when it ships through Orange next week may be better off signing a petition in protest at Orange’s Unlimited-but-limited iPhone deal. Because, in the personal opinion of this commentator, it sucks.
Any thoughts out there, people?
Hey, while the Mac industry has happily spent the summer speculating about the rumoured Apple tablet device, we’ve kind of let notions of the next-version iPhone slip under the radar – now it looks like Cupertino’s plans for iPhone 4 are really advanced, and here’s a picture of the casing.
Now, we’re not taking credit for this rather nifty spot – that belongs to Gizmodo, and while we can’t verify if there’s any truth at all to this story, we’ll join Gizmodo in pointing out that the Chinese manufacturer publishing this device has accurately made available images of other Apple components before their release.
While every handset maker and their dog’s brother is introducing their version of a touchscreen phone as the industry engages in a rearguard action against the Apple juggernaut, not every touchscreen keeps the customer satisfied, it seems.
New data from research firm, Canalysys, suggests the hype around touchscreen devices is driving the industry – everybody wants one, but not everyone’s so happy with the ones they’ve got.
According to the researchers, in Western Europe, 54% of people want their next phone to be a touchscreen device. That’s nice – but, sadly, of those who already have a touchscreen gadget, just 47% say they will stick with touch for their next handset – and it really does depend on which manufacturer produces the one they’ve already got.
For the most part, users of Apple or HTC devices will happily take touchscreen next time they choose a phone, but only 27% of those with Sony Ericsson handsets plan to.
"The results suggest that consumer awareness of touchscreen UIs is very high, driven by the marketing of Apple, Samsung and others," said analyst Pete Cunningham. “It is also apparent that, with experience, a significant proportion of users have not been totally won over by some of these devices,” he added.
“There has always been a question mark over how well touchscreens would work among an SMS-centric audience and the results indicate the transition has not been totally smooth.”
Interestingly, the survey also reverals that, from over 3,000 phone users, 38% would prefer a finger-based touchscreen phone, while 16% want a stylus-based touchscreen phone.
“We are at a critical time in the mobile industry,” commented Canalys VP Mike Welch. “The user awareness and interest is clearly there, and the opportunity to drive a mass change in user interaction, and hence device capabilities and the opening up of new application and service revenue streams, is tantalisingly close. But only if users continue to embrace these new UIs once they have tried them. This is the new arena in which mobile vendors must differentiate themselves, and the user experience battle will spread to other product categories, such as netbooks.”
Apple’s off to a slow start in iPhone sales in China, with carrier partner China Unicom confirming 5,000 sales of the device so far, since it went on sale last week.
Company president Lu Yimin characterised iPhone prices as “not expensive” during today’s Unicom shareholders meeting in Hong Kong. However, the iPhone costs maybe 26 per cent more than similar smartphones in Hong Kong (that also include Wifi), which industry observers fear may depress sales of Apple’s device in the world’s most populous country.
Over 700 million Chinese subscribe to wireless services. It’s estimated Apple may sell 460,000 iPhones each year in China – which Bloomberg reflects is less than the number of grey market iPhones currently sold there.
Despite this, China Unicom chairman, Chairman Chang Xiaobing, said, "We are satisified with iPhone sales so far, and we aim to have an additional 1 million new 3G subscribers each month in the near future.”
China Unicom has signed up over one million 3G subscribers so far. China Mobile and China Telecom will also launch 3G services in the coming months.
In August, Unicom signed a three-year non-exclusive deal to sell Apple’s popular iPhone in China.
Here’s the short version: You jailbreak your iPhone and SSH access is opened on it. If you don’t change your default root password, a hacker can log into your iPhone (or iPod touch) and gain full control very easily. A Dutch hacker takes this a bit further by throwing up an SMS popup after breaking into unsecured iPhones and asking €5 for instructions on how to secure the iPhone. We’ll save you €5 — do a restore.
The long version is at Ars.
If you want to stay clear of this kind of nonsense, change your password after jailbreaking, or obviously, don’t jailbreak.
"iDon’t do multi-touch"
This one from Gealog might be a typing error but it seems a bit conspicuous. Motorola Droid for Europe (A.K.A. the Milestone) lists pinch-and-zoom as one of the features in the Interface section. The U.S. Web site for the Droid does not list pinch-and-zoom as one of the features in the Interface section. Is Google still afraid to enable full multi-touch on Android (in the US) based on the fact that Apple asked them not to. Or is Apple legal doing the asking? Or Elan? Or even Palm?
http://www.cnet.com/av/video/flv/universalPlayer/universalSmall.swf
Most of this stuff is last week’s news but at 1:49 left in the video (feel free to fast forward), he mentions that his sources at Best Buy say there are new part numbers showing up in their systems that correspond to new MacBook Pros. He correlates this to last week’s information that new MacBook Pro families were spotted in the 10.6.2 software. He then goes on to recommend those on the fence about purchasing a MacBook Pro to wait a few weeks before buying.
If you try to go to a Flash site on your iPhone, you are often taken to Adobe’s "Get Flash" page because the site thinks this is an option for you. It obviously isn’t, of course. But for those who go to the "Get Flash" page on their iPhone, Adobe is adding some sass to their "iPhone doesn’t support Flash" message.
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This message has been around for awhile (as far as we remember) but it has only lately specified iPhone. Perhaps to differentiate between mobile Webkit browser that support Flash like Android and Blackberry will and those that don’t.[Gear Diary via Engadget]
Remember all those rumours of Apple planning a subscription-based service for iTunes? The ones that began way back in 2005, when the company hired XBox Live staffer, Julia Miller?
Seems this chatter’s back again, with Peter Kafka’s MediaMemo claiming Apple to have been in talks with TV networks in an attempt to put together a $30 all-you-can-eat TV subscription service.
This service, which may well appeal to companies not yet signed-up to NBC,ABC and Fox’s Hulu service, and which can also be seen as extending the Apple TV model into business currently occupied by satellite and cable TV services, seems set to launch “early next year”, if anyone signs up.
At present, Apple is assessing what degree of support there is for the notion among TV services. Kafka says no one has yet signed up.
These subscription plans through iTunes wouldn’t be device-specific, though it is likely you’d be able to access content using iTunes clients, including computers, iPhones, iPods and Apple TV devices.
August saw similar reports, this time from Piper Jaffray analyst, Gene Munster, who predicted Apple would introduce subscription services for TV shows way back in August this year.
“Such a product would effectively replace a consumer’s monthly cable bill (~$85/month) and offer access to current and older episodes of select shows on select channels,” said Munster, according to Loop Insight.
Success will depend on Apple being able to offer the breadth of content you get from cable services and broadcasters. It would also depend on shows being made available in a timely fashion.
If the company succeeds in winning support from TV networks, it would enter a market currently served by Netflix, and Hulu; with YouTube also expected to offer full-length TV shows more widely in the coming year.
This means Apple has a chance at securing broadcaster permission for the plan, as they are more prepared to engage with online services now than before. One source told MediaMemo: “I think they might get it right this time”.
Apple may also have a surprise in its plan, in terms of enabling broadcasters to claw back a little of the ads revenue they would otherwise lose in ads-free subscriptions.
Apple has advanced plans for an ads-funded iTunes service.
These plans first came to light in July, when it was revealed that Apple presented a UK Judge-presided tribunal with advanced plans for an ads-funded service.
iTunes VP Eddie Cue told the Tribunal that iTunes would only pay advertising revenue where it is earned “as a result of an advertisement, sponsorship or a click-through link located on a Licensed service … and only where the Licensed Service is offered to the user at a price which has been artificially depressed to reflect such revenue.”