iOS Devices

I think it will.  Read the long version at Computerworld.

We’ve been playing with Snow Leopard 10A402 for a few hours.  Here’s a running list of what we’ve found:

Significant snappieness™ all around.  Shut down takes 5 seconds.  Startup significantly faster as well.  This isn’t one of those "I think it is faster".  It is more like "Dayum!"

Exposé on multiple monitors is fixed.

Battery life says about 30% longer (no time to put into practice – yet)

In the Dock, you now get menus like right and below.

New version of Quicktime 10(42)…

It seems like these latest Expose features are bringing more and more touch features to the OS.  Do we really have to point to where this is going?

That is the biggest thing that has ever hit our software updater.

"This Snow Leopard Developer Preview Update is recommended for all users running the Snow Leopard Developer Preview Build 10A394 or later. This update includes general operating system fixes for stability, compatibility, and security."

Wow, just wow.  It seems like just yesterday U2 were singing the virtues of the iPod for Apple.  Now RIM throws a few bucks their way and they do pretty much the exact same thing (it looks like an Apple ad until the very end).  

The thing is: Is a Blackberry really an entertainment device?  Are you thinking rock and roll when you get a Blackberry?  OK…they want to change perceptions.  Did it work?

via Giz

Oh, as a commenter pointed out, Bono is a founding member of Apple’s favorite investment firm, Elevation Partners.  Though technically, he should be doing ads for the Pre and not Blackberry in that case.

Amazon has just released a new wireless portal, amazonwireless.com, where they try to simplify the process of buying a mobile device. 

They have signed up the two biggest US carriers, AT&T and Verizon, and have most of the devices that each carrier sells on their own website.  Tmobile and Sprint are said to be coming soon. 

However, one phone in particular is missing from the AT&T microsite: the iPhone.   Why?  Walmart and BestBuy sell the iPhone, why can’t Amazon? 

According to the WSJ, the Korean government has asked, and Apple has agreed, to recall some iPod nanos that might overheat.  The recall request was based on four complaints since Dec 2008 of the original iPod Nano.  Three of the complaints were due to battery meltdowns during recharging.  There are no details of the recall yet provided.

SEOUL (Dow Jones)–A South Korean government agency said Thursday that it has requested Apple Inc.’s Korea unit to recall some of its iPod nano music players on concerns that batteries in the device may overheat. In a statement, the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards said it had alerted the problems on June 25 to Apple Korea and suggested a voluntary recall in order to alleviate consumers’ concerns. "On July 7th, Apple sent a letter saying it will accept the recommendation made by the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards," the agency said. Apple spokeswoman Jill Tan declined to comment. The agency said that it received four complaints since December 2008 by users of the MP3 players, while three of those cases were related to battery meltdowns during the recharging process. 

Apple uses similar parts globally so one has to wonder if this will spread into an even larger recall.

Also, a recall based on four complaints for a whole country?  That seems a little bit rash to us.  But good on Apple for knocking that out.

Amazon dropped the price of a standard Kindle to $299 today hoping to spur sales of the popular device.  That’s down $60 from Amazon’s normal price which has held steady since the device was released two years ago.  It isn’t certain what made Amazon drop its price but we can hope that a possible Apple tablet coming down the pipe may have pushed Amazon to become more competitive in their pricing.  The Kindle App on the iPhone is still free btw.

Google’s huge announcement this evening that it will push an open source, instant-on OS which runs on both Intel/AMD and ARM platfoms will be an interesting developement for Apple users.  The new ChromeOS will make use of HTML5/CSS (like the Pre) which will allow applications for Chrome to also run on browsers (Chrome the best probably) on Mac, Windows and other variants of Linux.  Chrome now looks like it is more a platform (like Adobe Air) than a browser.

The Chrome OS aims to be a simple OS geared toward Netbook-type devices.  Google touts "Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS".  The OS won’t be officially released for at least a year, but the hype surrounding it will certainly make other OS vendors take notice.  The Netbook category is undeniably a huge space and Google hopes to get a foothold in it.

While it doesn’t seem to be in direct competiton to any of Apple’s current products, if Apple plans to release any products that fill the gap between the iPod Touch and the MacBook, there might be some overlap.  It still may be time to reconsider that board seat that Google CEO Eric Schmidt is holding.

We’d almost forgot about these…the Latest installment has a young couple looking for a sub $700 laptop.  Obviously, there is no Mac anywhere near that.  Notice when the baby cries.

http://images.video.msn.com/flash/soapbox1_1.swf

Microsoft might want to switch its attention to that pesky Google pretty soon.

Pinch Media tracks apps usage by iPods and iPhones.  In their data, they collect the model number of the iPod/iPhone being used and have been seeing more and more iPod touch 3,1’s running around.  This is what they had to say on the matter:

• the first time an application using Pinch Analytics was run by a ‘iPod3,1′ device occurred in late April 2009;
• applications using Pinch Analytics were run by ‘iPod 3,1′ devices very infrequently until late May 2009, when the pace picked up slightly;
• As of this date, a few dozen distinct ‘iPod 3,1′ devices have run around two dozen different applications using Pinch Analytics;
• The applications being run on ‘iPod 3,1′ devices have all been the larger, more popular applications using Pinch Analytics, with hundreds of thousands to millions of unique users– other than their size, the applications have little else in common.

Our biggest question at this point is on the quality of the camera.  Will it be as good as the current iPhone 3GS, or will it be a better, 5 megapixel CMOS sensor with a nice lens?  The placement of the camera to the center of the device would indicate that it is a different animal.

Via TUAW

If you’ve been with us awhile, you know we’re pretty huge fans of Qik. Qik is simply a video broadcasting app for mobile devices.  The video is sent from the iPhone to Qik.com where it can then be embedded into anyone’s website.  It has been running on jailbroken iPhones for over a year but the want to be legit. Qik has been submitting like crazy to the App Store only to be turned away time after time.  Digg founder, Kevin Rose stated it would be accepted last year but unfortunately it got turned down.

Now that the iPhone has a video API as well as some more CPU power under the hood, Qik is going to try to submit again. Although we’re optimistic, we wouldn’t bet on it getting accepted.

There are a few reasons why.  Some artificial, some real.  First and foremost, Qik is funded by Elevation Partners, the same investment company with former Apple Execs Jon Rubinstein and Fred Anderson that are running Palm. 

Also, AT&T is certainly wary of any app that uses any of their craptastic bandwidth.  Qik is a single stream so it isn’t anything more than uploading a Youtube Video – you know the same Youtube that experienced four times the video uploads the week the iPhone 3GS got released.

Also, we hate to say it but Apple may be working on something like this and might not want competition in this field.

As the video above states, the new version of Qik will have new features like using Stereo Bluetooth audio input and other cool tools.  Even if Apple denies this app again, you know where to find it.

For those who want to make their little iPhone camera zoom a bit better and don’t mind turning your iPhone into a Goth appendage, you may want to take a gander at this import from Japan:

via Engadget

There are a few lens sizes to choose from.  With some skillz, you could even make a music video.

Look, we’re not in favor of getting the government involved in any of our gadgetry…but…well… they are already there (FCC allocates spectrum, etc.) so they might as well do something good.  John Kerry last month petitioned the FCC to look into wireless carrier/handset maker duopolies, with the Sprint/Pre and AT&T/iPhone specifically being named.  That petition looks to have some legs.

Now, the WSJ’s Amol Sharmais is reporting that the US department of Justice is also looking into the matter:

“Among the areas the Justice Department could explore is whether wireless carriers are hurting smaller competitors by locking up popular phones through exclusive agreements with handset makers, according to people familiar with the matter. In recent weeks lawmakers and regulators have raised questions about deals such as AT&T’s exclusive right to provide service for Apple Inc.’s popular iPhone in the U.S.”

We’re pretty sure Apple, in a purely capitalist market, would just love to let anyone on any carrier use the iPhone.  Just look at France where the iPhone is booming on all three major carriers after the Orange-iPhone excusivity was deemed unfair to competition.   

If the DOJ rules that carrier exclusivity is anti-competitive like France’s government did, Tmobile might get in on some of the iPhone McLovin…and we might get an iPhone that gets a signal in our neighborhood.

The DOJ is also reportedly looking into if Apple and Google sharing directors (Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Art Levinson) is a competitive advantage as well. 

You’re hard earned iPod money is going to be buying a lot of lawyer time over the next few years it appears.

Apple is gearing up to celebrate the first anniversary of the wildly popular, much-copied App Store.  July 11th is the date it was released in the 2.0 iPhone software update. Apple has issued their favorite apps and games to commemorate the occasion.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=5068157&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=ffff00&fullscreen=1

We’re sure there have been lots of low budget music videos made with the iPhone 3GS’s video recording feature, but here’s one we actually like:

Reyna Perez has embraced the concept of digital collaboration with her self-titled EP. She recorded each song in Brooklyn on acoustic guitar at a home studio and emailed the tracks to producer Michael Maurice (Curio Sound) in Denver. Over the course of 2 months, Maurice mastered her songs into full fledged productions using Logic software and his own instruments. "I’ve given them a warm analogue sound, without using any actual analogue equipment; it’s a testament to the times, and I’m very happy with the results," says Maruice.

The final mixes arrived via ftp on Friday, June 17th, the same day the iphone 3GS hit the streets. Video producer Ari Kuschnir, Reyna’s fiancee, purchased the iPhone after a two hour wait, made shorter by listening to the tracks. Hearing the new music and playing with 3GS, he had an idea. Why not debut Reyna with the first iPhone music video? "It became clear that the phone’s camera quality was good enough to shoot a music video. It seemed fitting for the project."

Over the next few days, the plan and the team came together. Within a week, through a series of collaborations much like the mastering of Reyna’s EP, the video was complete.

Here’s the video, and here’s Reyna on Facebook, and here she is on reverbnation.com.

more from BoingBoing

According to Digitimes, Foxlink is making micro-projectors for future Apple (,Samsung and Nokia) products:

International brand vendors, including Nokia, Samsung Electronics and Apple, reportedly all plan to launch handsets with built-in micro projectors by the end of this year, indicated the sources, adding that Foxlink is likely to benefit from the emerging trend due to its strong business relationships with Nokia and Apple.

Although the site doesn’t specify whether the parts will go in to Apple’s Mac or iPod/iPhone line, the inclusion of Nokia seems to indicate they are products for mobile phones.  Therefore, one could speculate that these devices will be built into Apple’s iPhone/iPod touch line. 

On the other hand, adding bulk to the svelt iPhone/iPod touch line for something that people wouldn’t use that frequently doesn’t seem very Apple-like.   Perhaps these are headed to MacBooks or tablets?

Doing a little digging, we discovered a subsidiary of Foxlink called Glory Science Co. develops their micro-projector lenses.  They don’t have any juicy specs unfortunately for us to pore over.

 We did, however find a great example of this technology in the video below:

MacBook Transformer
OK, it’s all in French, but we thought we’d start the day’s news with a really rather cool YouTube clip, which shows an Apple MacBook making like a Transformer. S’worth a look – and there’s even more news after the break!!

Console gaming: The Future’s Apple?
Digital Spy chimes in with a close look at the low-hanging fruit which is console gaming and the Apple platforms. It states the success of gaming on the iPhone and iPod touch now present Apple with a chance to enter the console gaming market, but warns such a move may not be immediate.
Chris Ulm, co-founder of iPhone games developer Appy Entertainment reckons the Apple TV is the change agent for Apple in the console space, observing: "People often have eight or nine boxes under their TVs to control home entertainment – gaming machines, DVD players, cable boxes – it’s a big mess..Apple might look at this and say that people only need one box that does all those things.”
Read more

Hot iPhone? Blame the heatwave
There’s been a flurry of reports in recent days as heatwave-suffering iPhone 3GS owners complain their devices are running hot, too hot. Apple now says the heat isn’t a technical fault – instead it’s simply a by product of leaving your iPhone in your car. “Don’t leave your iPhone in a car where temperatures can exceed the -20C to 45C range”, the company warns. And if your iPhone does get too hot, just switch it off and let it cool down…
Read more

Social apps for iPhone $100 million VC prize
Oh we love a good statistic, so take a look at Chubby Brain’s latest data which indicates social networks are gathering more VC cash than games developers – 31 per cent of $100 million in tracked investments is going into social apps, with 22 per cent spurring the games market. And one more fact, fact fans, the amount of investment directly correlates to the number of iPhones sold, though we can’t pretend to be overly surprised at that particular factoid.
Read more

iBig in Japan
Lookee-lookee: New data shows the 8GB iPhone 3GS has emerged as Japan’s biggest-selling smartphone, with the 16GB model as the second biggest-selling device. Smartphone sales in the tech-savvy nation have shot up 80 per cent in a year, with a million iPhones sold in Japan since launch in July 08.
Read more

iPhone unlocked
There’s a few around speculating the release of the unsubsidised iPhone 3GS may generate an increase in interest in jailbreaking second user models. Now teen hacker George Hotz has released purplea1n, a jailbreaking tool for iPhones. Set to work with v.3.0 software, the tools currently Windows only, though a Mac version is allegedly “in the works”.
Read more

iPod touch will host a camera?
News just in claims Apple has placed a huge order of camera modules with its manufacturers in Asia. Citing analysts, these reports claim these cameras are destined for inclusion in a future version of the iPod touch, which Apple regularly updates in September (my, is it July already!!!).
Read more

Signing off, more tomorrow.

This news will come as no surprise to those using iPhones in US big cities.  PCWorld did a test of the big three wireless carriers in the nation’s 13 largest metro areas.  They found that while AT&T holds their own in terms of speed, they trail far behind Sprint and Verizon in terms of reliability, the most important aspect of mobile communications.  In fact, only about 2/3rds of AT&T’s connections went through at acceptable levels.  As New Yorkers, we can independently verify that figure, and add it might even be a little high.

AT&T has made mention of upcoming improvements to their service in metro areas, but at the moment, they are the worst.