iOS Devices

Apple has just posted a new iPhone 4 ad all about the amazing, magical, revolutionary, breathtaking, beautiful, gorgeous, and blow-away Retina Display. Check it:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeDTJZtFfI0&w=640&h=385]

Apple has updated their estimated shipping time for the iPhone 4, on their online store. The store now quotes a shipping time of 5-7 business days and this is a significant improvement from the former ‘3 weeks’ quote. This not only shows that Apple may have cleared up their iPhone 4 production issues: getting them out of the factory, but also shows that the iPhone 4 is shipping quicker than the 3GS.

The iPhone 3GS currently lists a shipping time of 1-2 weeks which may mean a number of things. Is the 8 GB iPhone 3GS coming to a quick end? (probably not), are people buying all the $99 iPhones they can get their hands on? (maybe) Let us know the comments what you think’s going on with the 2nd fastest iPhone ever.

Here’s a little vector graph by Asymco plotting the change in profit and marketshare in the smartphone space from three years before.  Sure Apple started with almost no market and Nokia could go almost nowhere but down, but as profits go, Apple is killing it.

Is it any wonder that everyone at Nokia is abandoning ship?
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About a year after it debuted on Android (remember when Google released apps on iPhone first?) Google has integrated Goggles into the Google Mobile App for iOS.  Goggles is enabled only for English-speaking users, and since it requires an auto-focusing camera it is supported only on iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 running iOS 4 or above.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezc108DTaug&w=640&h=390]
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Businessweek quotes iSuppli as saying Apple’s little TV revolution only costs $64 to make.  That’s about a quarter of the production cost of the previous AppleTV ($237) back in 2007.

Since that one sold for $300, Apple is still making more as a percentage (minus marketing, R&D, etc,etc,) than they did before (35% new vs. 20% old).

The A4 chip and the 8GB of Flash are the most expensive bits in the new version but they only come in at $16.55 and $14 respectively.

Oh, and FUN FACT: Intel’s Pentium Chip ($40) plus the chipset ($28) on the previous model alone cost more than the whole new AppleTV today. Clearly, the present day equivalent of that chip is much more powerful and might be cheaper but Intel just doesn’t sell SoCs for $16.

Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why Apple is building its own chips these days, does it?  It also shows why the Intel-based  GoogleTV will be three times as expensive as the AppleTV.

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COMPUTERWORLD: Perhaps you were disappointed with the new look Apple TV when it was introduced one month ago; perhaps you expected more from Steve Jobs’ hobby; perhaps you think it seems a little puny in comparison to the Google TV solutions we’re hearing so much more about this week. Look a little deeper though and it seems pretty clear Apple’s quietly putting together the pieces it needs to outmaneuver its Android enemy. Here’s five clues:

READ MORE:

Have no doubt the iPhone will become an iWallet, with yet another patent poking out of Cupertino confirming plans to implement NFC-based systems and RFID readers on future iterations of the Apple smartphone.
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDeX_oIfEeQ&w=640&h=390]

I really don’t see why people are arguing over which platform is better, GoogleTV or AppleTV.  I don’t care, I’m getting both.  AppleTV costs less than a month of cable service and a Logitech Revue GoogleTV is about the same price as a 32GB iPod ($299 ish?).  I’m not one to throw away money but I like both of these platforms and even though they overlap, they perform a lot of separate functions.  Heck, I might get a $59 Roku box just to piss off my wife with more wires…and I’m still not at $500, the price of a base model iPad yet.

I’ll probably use AppleTV for Netflix and playing content from the iTunes shares around the house.

I think my AppleTV will be the one in my living room on by default, but when I really want to search web content, I’ll flip over to the GoogleTV.   If GoogleTV can browse Hulu TV shows and  Comedy Central, I’m pretty happy.  It plays my 1080P videos?  Bonus.  Can I ‘Fling’ ESPN videos? What else can I ask for?

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While you’re waiting to get your hands all over Apple TV’s AirPlay goodness, Netflix has thrown you a bone in their latest app update. Besides those infamous “bug fixes” which rarely mean anything, Netflix added video-out support. Video-support for Netflix allows you to hook up one of those fancy cables and enjoy Netflix’s wonderful content on the big screen.

If you’ve got an Apple TV this really means nothing, but if you don’t this is great.
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Interesting news from MSBC:

Actor Tony Curtis [pictured above, right] was buried Monday with a melange of his favorite possessions — a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel.

I suppose that something could be said for the growing importance of mobile phones in people’s lives.  Clearly the iPhone was high on his list – which is something, especially considering the life he led.
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Apple’s iPad is rapidly emerging as the most quickly adopted consumer electronics launch in history, with sales rates surpassing the last de rigeur consumer tech purchase, the DVD player.

Sounds incredible? Yes, perhaps so, but these aren’t my words but the findings of new data from Bernstein Research, who point out that sales are blowing past Q1’s one million and already massively eclipsing the 350,000 DVD players sold in year one, the previous “most quickly adopted non-phone electronic product.”
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COMPUTERWORLD: UK Prime Minister David Cameron owns one, White House staff use them and Apple can’t make them fast enough. No matter where you sit on the pro-/anti-Apple fence, the signs are clear: iPads are in, netbooks are out, and the tablet story has only just begun. Apple’s tablet may not yet quite provide all the utility a business traveller needs, but we know many travellers will choose to carry an iPad rather than a laptop on their next trip all the same.

READ MORE

Update: That didn’t take long. Amazon is either sold out or was ordered to stop selling them directly.  Anyone out there snap one up?

Target isn’t the only new seller of the iPad this weekend.  Amazon gets the iPad as well and sells them for the same price as Apple.  Amazon, however doesn’t charge any tax in most states and offers free shipping as well.  (good way to burn out a bunch of leftover giftcards!).

Amazon is only carrying the 32GB and 64GB Wifi versions currently but will likely round out its inventory as we approach Christmas.  Amazon carried the iPad through third party vendors previously but often with over-inflated prices — and that’s still the case in the UK.

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We already know the White House is full of iPad users, now it’s the same in the UK at Number 10 Downing Street, where Tory/Coalition Prime Minister David Cameron has come out to declare himself an iPad (and Mac) user.

Speaking to the Telegraph this weekend, Cameron stressed his Apple credentials:
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Poring over a somewhat thought-provoking note penned by former Apple exec and Be Inc. founder, Jean-Louis Gassée, in which he argues that most operating systems are variants of one (Unix) and that the OS doesn’t really matter — it needs the apps.

He gives us a whistlestop tour of the evolution of OS development. On Apple, he writes:
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It’s even more official now.  You can meander into one of the thousands of Target stores like this one in San Antone’ and pick up an iPad  via cuellar
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Oh, Apple, aren’t you so sneaky. Apple has apparently dropped AirPrint support for the 2nd generation iPod touch sometime between the press release and now. When looking back at the AirPrint press release, which we like 1000 other blogs copy/pasted from September 15th, it read “*AirPrint will work with iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (second generation and later).” Now it reads “*AirPrint will work with iPad, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and iPod touch (third generation and later).”

out with the old (above), in with the new (below)

At least you 2nd generation iPod touch users still get to use Gamecenter :D

Amazon UK’s got a new book for us on iLife ’11 due in November.  How convenient!

In case your German is a little rusty, that red band reads: “iPhoto, iMovie and more with apps for Mac, iPhone 4, iPod and iPad.”

That’s interesting.  Does it mean that there are iLife apps for iOS or does it mean you can create apps for iOS with a new iLife Application?  Or is this whole listing just a farce?

We’re expecting some new MacBooks of some sort during the next month or so, so an iLife ’11 introduction during that time would be a good fit.

Update: The German site has some more goodies (thanks commenter!)

One more surprise/contradiction below:
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Here’s an issue with Apple doing ads:  Some ads just suck, yet the companies who want to put them up still want to cough up the money to place ads.

Most ads companies wouldn’t bat an eye at putting up some bad ads.  Annoying flashing ads?  Sure!

Apple however, isn’t most ad companies.  For instance, Business Insider reports that the third attempt to submit an ad wasn’t the charm for Addidas, who are going to take their $10 million dollars elsewhere.

Adidas supposedly pulled its $10+ million ad campaign from the iAd program because Apple CEO Steve Jobs was being too much of a control freak. According to one industry exec, Adidas decided to cancel its iAds after Apple rejected its creative concept for the third time.

Perhaps Jobs would have gone easier on New Balance?

The WSJ announced earlier that premium brand Chanel had pulled out of Apple’s iAd program with similar issues.

It is interesting that Apple has taken such an active role in advertising development and its curation doesn’t end at iOS apps, but actually the ads which appear inside them.
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Apple has a little known “Reserve and Pick Up” website where you can check if a certain Apple product is in stock at a certain Apple Store. Apple has just added the Apple TV to this web portal and it’s now the perfect way to check if your local store has any of them in stock.

Unfortunately this site is U.S. only and you can click here to check your local store.

Note: This post is not showing you can reserve an Apple TV, this post is showing you that you can check if the Apple TV is available at you local store. Also, it’s a good idea to call your store first and not trust Apple’s website. BTW: Does not work in Google Chrome.

Apple today updated their MobileMe Gallery iOS app for full iPad support as a universal binary, Retina Display support for iPhone 4 and iPod touch 4, and support for iOS 4 quick-app-switching. Additionally, the update allows users without MobileMe accounts to view friend’s galleries through the app.

MobileMe Gallery allows MobileMe users to upload and share their photo albums with friends. The app is free as always and can be downloaded here. Release notes after the break:

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