9to5 Staff

 The following video shows a prototype interface for an iRobot Packbot running natively on an Apple iPhone. This is NOT a web app and was developed by Rodrigo Gutirrez and Jeff Craighead at the University of South Florida.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkM92ateTwo&hl=en]

You may recall last year’s comments by Dr. Goodman, VP and CEO of the University of South Florida, who said: "The iPhone is nothing short of a revolution. Without question, Apple has made a revolutionary breakthrough and delivered the first truly convergent device."

The doctor continued to say: "It’s the first device to show the power of convergence in technology. In a world where we’re multi-tasking, the iPhone will lead to different skill levels and usher in a new way for people to work and learn. Having instant access to information means you can focus on applying knowledge instead of gathering it. "

Goodman believes the iPhone will revolutionize classroom teaching. 

"This device will rock your world," he recently told a group of local school administrators. “Because your students will be armed with iPhones, they’ll have information at their fingertips. That means less need for lectures, and more focus on applied knowledge.” 

Before he purchased his iPhone in June, Goodman used a BlackBerry. 

“Now I can’t even pick it up,” he says. “It’s like to talking into a rock. That’s the leap in convergence iPhone has made. BlackBerry was a leap. Now iPhone takes it ten times further. The multiple dimensions offer richness in terms of experience. It’s like juggling. The iPhone lets you keep more balls moving in the air.” 

Goodman believes the power of convergence is just being recognized. 

“We’re at the bleeding edge,” he says. “The focus is on applying technology, using the power of the device to make decisions. The iPhone is just one product that represents convergence. That is the revolution.” 

 Apple’s latest advertising experiment as spotted on Gizmodo, this one sees Mac and PC take a look at the news, enjoy…

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u38gzS33UMo&hl=en]

 Can Apple survive without Steve Jobs?

Apple’s co-founder is arguably the most innovative and succesful turnaround artist and tech visionary in Silicon Valley, and rumours of illness following his appearance at WWDC last week saw dollars knocked off of Apple’s share price.

With a recent report claiming Apple’s iconic designer, Jonathan Ive, has purchased a mansion in the UK, and continued jitters at the health of the Apple CEO, company-watchers are beginning to ask if Apple has a succession strategy in place. The question is, if Jobs (or Ive, come to that) were to leave Apple, does the company already have the kind of visionary leader it requires to manage the consequences of the loss of their DNA?

One obvious response would be to promote current Chief Operating Officer, Tim Cook, to the CEO’s chair. Cook took the hot seat while Jobs was recovering from his life-saving cancer operation in 2004, but it’s not clear if Cook combines the ingredients required to offer the company the kind of leadership Jobs provides.

Speculation as to Apple’s succession plans isn’t new, of course – it is a regularly returned-to topic. And that we’re engaging in a little of this now doesn’t mean we think he’s ill again – but the question remains valid all the same.

What does Jobs think? Well, he appears pretty confident in his executive team, telling Fortune earlier this year: "We’ve got really capable people at Apple. I made Tim Cook COO and gave him the Mac division and he’s done brilliantly…

"I mean, some people say, ‘Oh God, if Jobs got run over by a bus, Apple would be in trouble." And, you know, I think it wouldn’t be a party but there are really capable people at Apple. And the board would have some good choices about who to pick as CEO. My job is to make the whole executive team good enough to be successors, so that’s what I try to do."

So who is on Apple’s executive team right now? We’ve mentioned Jobs, Cook and Ive, but the there’s nine more names to know: 

• Daniel Cooperman (General Counsel and Secretary);
• Tony Fadell (senior vice president, iPod division); 
• Scott Forstall (Senior VP,iPhone software, newly-promoted); 
• Ron Johnson (Senior VP Retail); 
• Bob Mansfield (newly-promoted senior VP Mac Hardware Engineering); 
• Peter Oppenheimer (CFO); 
• Phil Schiller (Worldwide Product Marketing chief);
• Bertrand Serlet (Senior VP Software Engineering)
• Sina Tamaddon (senior VP Applications).

We’re not about to pick through the reputations of each of Apple’s senior executive team, but we would like to note that the iPod itself was originally dreamed-up by Tony Fadell (though executed and improved upon with help from Jobs and Ive); and we note Scott Forstall as a man to watch, with arguably the most important role at Apple, caring for the development of a brand new computing platform.

9to5Mac Picks:

Andy: Ive could be a spiritual leader, but I’m not sure he’s the man for the CEO chair, he’s inspired, and inspiring, but to be really honest, the one of the lot of them that has managed the most charismatic public speech in my experience is Ron Johnson. Whatever the outcome, Cook would take on a wider operational role, so it needs a visionary people feel respect and trust for.

Cleve: Forstall is the man if SJ gets to pick.  If something extraordinary happens, the board might go with a safer choice like Tim Cook.  Ive doesn’t want the job.  Ron Johnson is my outside choice

Quincy: Cook if SJ leaves in the next few Years.  Forstall if SJ stays for at least another 3-4

Chauncey: Ron Johnson is the underdog.  Ive, very little shot.  Forstall is too techie. Tim Cook is the man to beat.  Phil Schiller?

Seth:  For me it is a 3 horse race.  Tim Cook is out in front but at steady pace.  Phil Schiller is moving up…. but here comes Forstall!  The only question is where is the finish line.  Oh, Ron Johnson and Ive are watching from the stands.

Who of the existing team do you think could lead Apple Inc.?

Oh, and then there is Cramer..

http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/1079049304
Our Favorite: “After Edison, it was over.” Um, GE is still around and doing OK I think?

Apple today announced it has sold over five billion songs through iTunes, and repeated its claim to have become the biggest US music retailer, citing data from NPD Group.

The company added that its now seeing 50,000 movies purchased and/or rented each day, "making iTunes the world’s most popular online movie store," the company added.

iTunes features movies from all of the major movie studios including 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), Lionsgate and New Line Cinema. 

The iTunes Store now offers over eight million songs, over 20,000 TV episodes and over 2,000 films.

Remember the hoop-la concerning Microsoft’s super customer-focused decision to end support for music purchased through the now-defunct MSN Music service?

Well, with the egg still spilling down its face following its seeming failed attempt to acquire Yahoo, Ballmer’s boys have made yet another U-turn in their decision-making; they’ve decided to continue supporting MSN Music after all.

In April, Microsoft said MSN Music purchases could not be transferred to additional computers and devices as of August 31, 2008, as the company had elected to switch of the authorisation servers, to save cash, or something.

So, everyone complained, we all thought it shameful, and the move did nothing to boost consumer trust in Microsoft DRM. What else could Redmond do but change its mind? They have, telling customers: "After careful consideration, Microsoft has decided to continue to support the authorization of new computers and devices through at least the end of 2011." Jolly good then, but we’re sure most digital media customers could do without that kind of hassle.

When it comes to choosing a network, it looks like Australian iPhone users will be given the world’s best choice (Czech that!) – the device will be offered by three carriers in the country.

We knew Optus and Vodafone planned to offer the gadget, but news from down under now reports Telstra too is getting in on the iAction. 

Telstra chief Sol Trujillo may make an announcement to this effect next week, according to local reports. That’s significant, because Telstra is Australia’s largest mobile network. But while the two smaller operators will begin selling the device on July 11, Telstra is allegedly looking to commence sales on 22 July.

Vodafone’s pre-registration website for the iPhone has attracted about 40,000 visitors daily since opening the site early last week, while Optus has stopped accepting advance deposits, as it can’t keep up with demand.

Only Hutchison at present is left in the cold, as the only carrier in Australia without an iPhone.

 Needham & Co. analyst Charles Wolf this morning raised his firm’s target price on Apple stock to $240 (from $235), predicting Apple will sell near 30 million iPhones next year.

In an extensive briefing despatched to clients this morning, Wolf shared calculations which suggest the installed base of iPhone users will reach 150 million in the next ten years – the equivalent of 5 per cent of the installed base of mobile phone owners in that year.

Wolf based his new predictions on Apple’s seeming decision to drop revenue-sharing deals in most of the countries it offers the device in, and on strength of the carrier subsidies being offered with iPhone 3G, which see the mobile sold for as little as one Euro by T-Mobile in Germany and Austria.

On strength of the much-improved iPhone offering (principally based on price), the analyst expects the iPhone 3G will snare 7 per cent of the US mobile phone market next year, with sales of 14 million units there; beyond the US, Wolf estimates international iPhone sales will hit 15.6 million sales next year, for a total figure just shy of 30 million total sales in 2009.

What’s more significant is that the addition of 14 million new iPhone customers in the US, "would represent 20 per cent of AT&T’s current subscriber base," Wolf reports. "While this percentage may appear high, it misses an important aspect of the iPhone phenomenon.  A recent survey by Rubicon Consulting found that about 40 per cent of iPhone buyers in the US switched from other carrier networks. So the iPhone’s addressable market is larger than AT&T’s subscriber base." Which is good news for AT&T shareholders, we suppose.

Wolf warns that climbing iPhone sales will have the consequence of cannibalising the iPod market by around 30 per cent, that means Apple’s likely to shift 95 million of its media players in 2017, for  a future installed base of 235 million.

The analyst also notes the real deal behind all this activity, predicting the combination of the existing iPod halo with the growing iPhone halo will drive Mac sales far, far higher. "The addition of the iPhone halo effect increases the number of Macs sold in 2017 from 40 million units in the previous forecast to 44 million units in the updated one," he wrote in his report.

And there’s more. Wolf also seems convinced that Apple will be able to create and disrupt the smartphone category with the introduction of the App Store.

"In the PC era, the adage was ‘software drives hardware’. Software applications, which made the PC truly useful, became a major driver of hardware sales. Will the same thing happen in the smartphone industry?" Wolf states, adding, " Our bet is that it will."

"The emergence of the first viable software platform in the (smartphone) industry could drive iPhone sales above the levels we modeled in this report," he observes, adding, "And the iPhone apps promise to be far cheaper than those that run on PCs…"

Finally, the analyst warns: "It’s not possible to say whether our forecast of worldwide iPhone sales of 63 million  units in 2017 is outrageously aggressive or outrageously conservative."

Given current indications suggesting massive global pent-up demand for the iPhone 3G, we’re speculating Apple will achieve the level of sales Wolf anticipates, and we think this will continue to drive Mac market share to climb.

(Image courtesy of Jordon Golson)

We predict short supplies of the iPhone 3G. Apple appears to have a hit on its hands with the release of the iPhone 3G, with carriers besieged by requests from potential buyers and the analysts at Morgan Stanley this morning predicting device sales will double, reaching 27 million iPhone 3G sales in 2009.

We’ll start with the analysts, then take a quick look at two examples illustrating the level of demand for the product carriers are encountering.

Morgan Stanley this morning raised its price target on Apple stock to $210, up $25 from the investor’s previous $185 target – and warned the impact could drive values even higher.

"We believe the market generally expects a doubling of iPhone units with the lower price point ($199) and we believe this is realistic, if not conservative," the investment bank said in a note. The bank expects 27 million iPhones to be sold in calendar year 2009 "with an average revenue of $550 per unit," said Reuters.

Hope or hype? It looks true to us. Apple’s UK iPhone 3G carrier O2 this week confirmed it is experiencing four times the level of consumer interest in the release of the new device than it did on the release of iPhone v.1. 

More than 130,000 people have signed-up to receive further information from O2 concerning the iPhone 3G when it ships – that contrasts to 35,000 customers who registered such interest for the first edition iPhone, the company admitted.

With Apple preparing to release iPhone 3G in up to 22 countries on 11 July, company executives will probably be pretty positive that this level of interest appears international – Australian users are also anxious for the device.

The proof? One of Australia’s iPhone carriers, Optus, has been taking $100 deposits from customers hoping to secure on of the first batch of iPhone 3G’s to ship in the country – but the carrier has had to stop taking these deposits because it has been "overwhelmed" by requests.

Customers were filing their deposits in return for priority queuing and the chance to buy the iPhone 3G two hours before it is released to the general market. Over 4,000 Australians handed over their cash within 24-hours of Optus offering the deal. A spokesperson said: "Registrations have exceeded our expectations."

Apple’s other Australian carrier, Vodafone, has been attracting 40,000 visits each day to its iPhone website. This level of interest is remarkable, given the Australian population numbers just 20 million souls. If this level of demand is replicated on a global basis, it’s likely Apple will see that demand exceed its existing supply.

 We’re looking forward to the first handheld supercomputer, thanks to an Apple-developed technology the company is now working to see accepted as an open standard.

Apple announced Snow Leopard at WWDC last week, equipped with the technology – Open Computing Language (OpenCL) – that will allow the OS to use the processing power of graphics processors for non-graphics apps.

OpenCL is based on the C programming language and has been proposed as an open standard. As part of the standard-setting process, Apple has joined a consortium of companies (the Khronos Group) to develop OpenCL as a standard.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs last week told the New York Times a little about OpenCL. “Basically it lets you use graphics processors to do computation,” he said. “It’s way beyond what Nvidia or anyone else has, and it’s really simple.” Interestingly, both Nvidia and ATI are part of the standards-setting consortium.

The standards setting procedure is taking place under the aegis of the Khronos Group, which has set up the Compute Working Group to investigate how best to use the increasingly powerful capabilities of GPUs to share computational tasks with the host processor.

Khronos Group president, Neil Trevett, said, "The Compute Working Group potentially will be one of the most significant standardisation efforts at Khronos. Highly-accelerated parallel computation across GPUs and CPUs is essential to many emerging rich consumer applications that will transform the computing experience of diverse users."

Oh but the web we weave – Apple’s secrets continue to unravel, with Trevett’s next revelation: "Significantly, this initiative is aimed at both desktop and embedded devices – the day when you will be able to hold a supercomputer in the palm of your hand is perhaps not so far away."

Other members of the working group include AMD, ARM, IBM, Intel, and Nokia.

Adobe this week confirmed it continues work to bring its Flash multimedia technology to the iPhone – though it still has a long way to go.

Way back in March, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen confirmed his company to be working to support Flash on the iPhone, saying his engineers were developing such a solution to work as a native iPhone application using Appe’s SDKs.

In the latest update delivered during Adobe’s conference call this week, Narayen said: "With respect to the iPhone, we are working on it," adding that the company has, "a version that’s working on the emulation. This is still on the computer and you know, we have to continue to move it from a test environment onto the device and continue to make it work."

While that’s quite a way from being a tired and tested market-ready product when you consider the prevalence of Flash content, the CEO said he was on the whole, "pleased with the internal progress" made so far.

The fate of Flash on the iPhone may not be so easy to predict. Apple and Adobe now both compete in the video markets, with Adobe’s solution seeing increasing use as a solution for streaming television shows from broadcasters including the BBC. 

As Narayen observed in March, "To bring the full capabilities of Flash to the iPhone Web-browsing experience, we do need to work with Apple beyond and above what is available through the SDK and the current license around it," the company said. 

While the Adobe CEO says he is pleased, his deliberate move to understate progress – characterising it as "still on the computer", may hint Apple and Adobe haven’t quite found a way forward yet.

Speculation at the depth of competition between the two old allies was also sparked by recent reports suggesting Apple to be deploying a new web technology called SproutCore to create experiences and web applications. SproutCore is a JavaScript framework designed to make web applications that work a lot like desktop apps, while also being widely compatible as a result of being built with JavaScript’s open standards. Applications will run inside a browser, rather than requiring a plug-in.

 It appears Apple is closing in on a deal to offer the iPhone in China, following months of discussion with carrier networks there – but optimism of this has since been denied by the company concerned.

Apple has been engaged in talks with China’s largest mobile carrier, the eponymously-named China Mobile. However, local reports now claim talks with that carrier have broken down, driving Apple to the arms of smaller incumbent, China Unicom.

Since these reports emerged this morning, however, China Unicom has gone on the offensive to deny them. "This rumored cooperation is nonsense," an unnamed Unicom executive told Trading Markets. "The company will not approach Apple at this moment when the nation’s telecoms regrouping has not come to an end, let alone discuss about the iPhone deal. Because it is not clear which 3G wireless license China Unicom will get after the reshuffle."

Talks with China Mobile allegedly broke down because the companies were unable to agree a mutually acceptable revenue-sharing deal. 

Reports currently suggest the iPhone 3G will ship in China this August, though there is a catch – Chinese users will be unlikely to be able to use 3G on their devices because the 3G network in the country hasn’t been implemented yet. The Chinese government is expected to allow operators to begin introducing 3G networks later this year, with China Unicom expected to receive a 3G license to operate services on the network.

China Unicom has declined comment on these reports.

Interestingly, China Mobile in February apparently reported it was aware of 400,000 iPhones already in use on its network, these models were purchased in Europe and the US, unlocked and returned to China.

 Just because Apple’s reaching deals to bring iPhone 3G to market at prices most of us can almost afford doesn’t mean the company’s making no money – far from it, according to a recent tear-down analysis from Portelligent.

‘Course. what makes the analysis just the tiniest bit speculative is that Portelligent has released its estimated cost of iPhone 3G manufacture based entirely on educated guesses as to what components are used in the device. 

The raw cost of materials to build the iPhone 3G could be nearly half that of the original model, according to Portelligent. While the first model had a build cost of c. $170, the new breed could cost as little as $100 to make, said Potelligent president, David Carey.

"Gen2 iPhone pricing is aggressive enough that it made me think Apple’s really taking the gloves off on this one," said Carey. "They are probably not as worried about iPhone hardware profits as they are about getting a piece of the action on service revenues and getting more Macs in homes and offices all around the globe," he added.

From speaking to suppliers in Asia, Portelligent believes Apple uses an Infineon baseband and RF transceiver, a Samsung processor, an Infineon GPS chip.

We love it, many of you love it, it gives Microsoft a headache and while we love Safari too, we’re ready and waiting for when Firefox 3 will ship at 10am (PDT) today.

We’ve signed up to support the release by downloading it the moment it’s made available – hopefully putting the release into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most downloaded software ever released. 

Firefox 3.0 will be fast, loading pages up to four times faster than the previous version and an astonishing seven times faster than Internet Explorer (why does anyone still use Microsoft’s stuff, anyway?).

So – roll along to the Spreadfirefox website and take a look at the tons of new features that we can look forward to in Firefox; get ready to download it, and don’t bother downloading those files named Firefox 3 that seem to be circulating right now – some of these are just re-named versions of the last beta, and in any case, these downloads don’t count as part of the world record attempt. And we really hope to see an explosion in its market share in next month’s Net Applications stats…

Updated to add: As of 10.05 am PDT, the Firefox servers are clearly being hammered – we’re just trying to get in!

 Apple seems to be growing ever cosier with games developers, with news this morning that the company’s head honcho in Europe has taken a seat on the board of French games developer, Infogrames.

Apple’s vice president for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Pascal Cagni, has taken a seat on the Infogrames board, that’s in addition to his normal duties at Apple.

Infogrames chairman Michel Combesof said: "We are convinced that Cagni’s competence, his experience in the consumer technology and internet sectors and his independence will help to strengthen and enrich our board".

Cagni’s response? "I’m delighted to join the exemplary board at Infogrames. Infogrames and Atari especially are world-class brands that should experience the full benefit of a new, strong leadership team." 

Does this mean Apple’s growing cosier with games developers? We know the company has a blooming relationship now with Electronic Arts? Anyone remember the Apple buys Atari rumours of the olden days? Does it need to when Infogrames owns 51.2 per cent of Atari. It also owns 72 per cent of GT Interactive; owns Hasbro Interactive….

So, games the Apple executive and new board member has a say in include: Civilisation, Dungeons And Dragons, Missile Command, and Pong. And many more. Filed in the , "watch this space" collection.

 With Apple’s newly-branded Mobile Me not set to appear until July 11, it’s no great surprise to see it happen, but .Mac subscribers worldwide are complaining that the service isn’t working.

Apple’s .Mac website is inaccessible at this time, with the company posting a note to the effect that it is attempting to restore normal service. 

While .Mac email is downloadable to desktop mail applications, you can’t access it online, in addition to which subscribers with image galleries hosted on the service cannot now access those collections.

We’re pretty certain this is just a little house-keeping Apple’s involved with, likely upgrading servers and ensuring user data doesn’t get munched when Mobile Me launches, but we’ll keep an eye on the situation.

As expected this morning .Mac is coming back online, though no immediate changes are visible. Given it’s hosted on Xserves, it’s possible the sys admins were simply applying the Xserve firmware patch Apple issued last night.

 PR Newswire has aped Associated Press with the introduction of an iPhone client for reading its press releases.

The PR solution uses technology developed by Two Peas Consulting. It means PR Newswire press releases are now available and fully keyword-searchable on the iPhone. Take a test ride just here.

Every single word found within a release can be linked to more contextual information using an unlimited number of online information sources. So a user can click on a word in a press release to do an instant search on the term on Google.

We just thought this was a little interesting. 

Looky here, looks like Apple unwrapped the Sydney Apple Store for all to enjoy.  Flickr user pixelperfect got some snappers of the store.  Yeah, we are thinking it looks pretty much like all of the others. 

Enjoy Sydneysiders.

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United Airlines has become the first US air carrier to offer iPod and iPhone connectivity within its in-flight entertainment systems, the airline announced today.

The company’s solution allows passengers to watch and listen to their media on the 15.4-inch screen available at their seat. Technology for the connectivity was developed by Panasonic Avionics Corporation. The first so-equipped flight leaves Washington today at 5:40pm in transit to Zurich. Deployment of the solutions begins on these trans-Atlantic routes, with United’s entire fleet of international aircraft to be upgraded with the Apple media-friendly solutions in the next two years (first and business class..)

"The iPod and iPhone have become essential for millions of travelers around the world," said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s vice president of iPod and iPhone Product Marketing. "We think United customers are going to love being able to listen or watch personal music and video content on their iPod or iPhone via the in-flight entertainment system, and we can’t wait for United to roll this out to their fleet."

Singapore Airlines took the distinction of becoming the first airline to offer passengers the ability to connect their iPods to an in-flight entertainment system earlier this year, offering iPod/iPhone-compatible in-flight entertainment systems on select business class flights on its Airbus A340-500 aircraft.

iPod and iPhone integration began with Singapore Airlines’ A345 non-stop flights from Newark-Singapore on 15 May, and begins on the LA-Singapore route this August.