What is MobileMe?
MobileMe, Apple, Inc.’s answer to the consumer-based “push” concept has launched today. MobileMe comprises of web-based applications that not only synchronize with their desktop counterparts, but also “pushes” updates to other computers including calendar appointments, address book entries and Safari bookmarks. Windows-based PC’s and Apple’s OS X can be used to synchronize this information between platforms. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch (using Wi-Fi) you can receive these updates instantly on your device without having to synchronize with your desktop.
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If you hadn’t noticed, TiPb’s theme of the week is currently “Fixing the iPhone”. Rene offered you an extremely thoughtful and well-researched look into what the iPhone can learn from the competition. I reviewed a native app that added a much needed ‘Today’ Screen. And I’m back again giving you 10 Things Apple Should Fix in the iPhone. We don’t always crack jokes about Crackberry and mock iClones here do we?
Okay, to provide a quick disclaimer for this list: Understand that I’m completely ignoring the issues that are ‘mainstream problems’ with the iPhone. I’m not going to go off on the lack of a physical keyboard. I’m not worrying about 3G & GPS. Copy & Paste is a well-known pitfall of the iPhone. Natively saving images, likewise. Removable Battery? Recessed headphone jack? Push E-Mail? MMS? (Wow, that’s a lot)
As big a concern those previously mentioned issues are—many of them will likely become a moot point once the 3G iPhone comes out (Now somebody go tell Sprint that). This list suggests minor tweaks and fixes in the iPhone that may have been swept under the rug or just plain old forgotten. But fear not, I will happily remind Apple of the iPhone’s shortcomings and offer a solution on how to fix them. As great as the iPhone is, it isn’t without its faults.
[Comment on this Wait-a-Thon post to qualify to win a $100 iTunes Gift Card]
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Like a moth to a flame or a Blackberry addict to email, I am drawn once again into the train wreck that is Flash on the iPhone. This time it’s courtesy one Robert X. Cringely, and it’s a brain bender!
Cringely says:
It seems obvious to me, however, that there is only one real reason why [rumors circulating the National Association of Broadcasters show suggested] Apple would sell off its professional applications [like Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro, Shake, and Aperture] and that’s to avoid antitrust problems when/if Apple buys Adobe Systems as I predicted at the beginning of the year.
Gruber responds:
I Think Cringely Is Off His Meds Again
Daring Fireball’s John Gruber goes on to say that while Apple may (or may not) sell off its Pro Apps, it would only do so to downsize and maintain focus, something buying Adobe would pretty much be the opposite of.
Personally, I think Apple stands to benefit immensely one day from controlling the media pipe end-to-end, and part of that control is the high end content creation tools, the Pro Apps. That’s Apple end game, the media hub and all its satellites. And if you want that, you don’t go selling off your launch vehicles.
What do you think?
Apple is rumored to be in talks with Orange, France’s exclusive iPhone carrier, to cut pricing on iPhone in hopes of stimulating sales in that country. Since it first marched down the Champs Elysées four months ago, iPhone has been greeted with as much acceptance by French consumers as bad Camembert cheese - selling just over 100,000 units in that period. That’s owing to the fact the French iPhone, much like its fat pasty American counterpart, lacks 3G wireless.
Europe enjoys greater 3G buildout than North America’s wireless infrastructure, so its absence in iPhone makes it even less desirable than leftover onion soup. Naturally the French have thumbed their already erect noses at Apple’s wonder device, and said “Merde!” to iPhone. But with the imminent arrival of a 3G model drawing nigh, this won’t be an issue for much longer.
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Information Week has posted an article discussing how the spectrum action is going. You remember, the wireless 700MHz spectrum action that is freed up from analog TV? Anyway, Verizon has won the largest segment of the bandwidth spending $9.6 billion to do so. Guess who’s number 2? You guessed it kids, AT&T. AT&T spent $6.6 billion for their share. What does this mean? Well for starters the FCC says that the bandwidth being auctioned off must be kept open and usable on any network; no more of this lock-down on a carrier mumbo-jumbo. Then there is Google coming with Android later this year…
So what impact does this have on the iPhone? Will Apple sell an iPhone on a segment of the open bandwidth? Could the 3G iPhone run only on AT&T’s 3G network and the EDGE iPhones run on the “open” spectrum?
The Flash drama continues, with more twists and turns than a California highway. It looks as though iPhone may be getting native Flash support after all, if dragged kicking and screaming. Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen spoke to reporters during a conference call…
“Well, you really believe that Flash is synonymous with the Internet, and frankly, anybody who wants to browse the Web and experience the Web’s glory really needs Flash support.
We were very excited about the announcement from Windows Mobile–adoption of Flash on their devices–and the fact that we’ve shipped 0.5 billion devices now, non-PC devices. So we are also committed to bringing the Flash experience to the iPhone, and we will work with Apple.
We’ve evaluated the SDK. We can now start to develop the Flash player ourselves, and we think it benefits our joint customers. So we want to work with Apple to bring that capability to the device.”
Do let’s pretend that Steve Jobs earlier comments were some kind of smokescreen intended to mask Apple’s true motives, while backdoor negotiations with Adobe unfolded. That makes sense, doesn’t it? No, I didn’t think so either.
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According to DigiTimes [via IntoMobile], Apple has poached Samsung Executive Scott Huang to fill a slot at Apple Taiwan. Huang was VP of Samsung’s Mobile Communications unit and seems to have his finger on the pulse of the Taiwanese smartphone market. Hint: it’s seriously poised for some serious growth, seriously.
Given how gigantic their splash in the US has been, it’s sometimes easy to forget that Apple is just getting started in the global market. They may be the #2 smartphone state-side, but worldwide they have a lot of work to do. Expect a lot of hires like this in the near future as Apple realizes that different countries have different issues to be dealt with — the folks that have grokked how to dominate the US don’t necessarily know how to dominate other markets, and it’s a good sign that Apple gets this.
It seems like only yesterday Apple’s servers were overwhelmed by the unbridled lust of developers, feverishly downloading the newly released iPhone SDK, going offline and back again like cheap Christmas tree lights. Today Apple is reporting that over 100,000 SDK downloads have been made in a span of just four days. That’s amazing considering that traffic bottleneck prevented downloading to occur for hours at a time, and Apple’s iPhone developer page was broken for nearly two days.
Makes you wonder how much higher that figure would be if everything had gone smoothly out of the gate. 500,000 perhaps?
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Apple and RIM are on a collision course as the two companies go toe to toe vying for enterprise messaging market share. RIM has long held the corporate high ground with its dominant BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology and ubiquitous handsets. But Apple is sending iPhone to business school, adopting Microsoft Exchange support that is certain to give Apple the competitive advantage it needs to challenge RIM’s BlackBerry industrial complex.
This puts Apple in a unique position. Until now the company has narrowly focused its product strategy at consumers, not business. Apple and enterprise go together like Dairy Queen and Lactose intolerance, but iPhone has achieved the kind of sweeping success and brand awareness that makes it marketable to business customers, given the right pedigree of tools.
The combination of iPhone’s consumer appeal and business smarts could produce a perfect storm for Apple. Will it be enough to topple RIM?
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I still remember the keynote of keynotes: MacWorld 2007. Towards the end of the iPhone presentation, Steve Jobs showed the Apple iPhone Bluetooth headset. My jaw dropped. Small, light, perfect! I only held off on my purchase due to the slightly inflated price of $129. So in November of 2007 when Apple had their one-day sale event, I picked one up for $99. Here are my thoughts after 3+ months of usage.
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I love the fact that Apple gives us their events on iTunes! Believe it or not, I still watch the MacWorld 2007 video. I enjoying watching the part where Steve says:
An iPod, Phone and an Internet communicator. iPod, Phone, and an Internet communicator. Are you getting it? These aren’t three separate devices…
hmmm, perhaps I have watched that one too many times.
I do wonder why it is a Podcast though and not a “movie”. I say this because the Podcasts do not refresh… we just get a new one every time.
You can find the link here to the Apple store for download, enjoy.
Response to Apple’s release of an iPhone SDK has been overwhelming; literally. Since it became publicly available yesterday, Apple’s developer website has been swamped with user registrations and download requests. I personally have made numerous attempts to download the SDK, all unsuccessfully. If that’s any indication of the frenzied bustle of app development we might expect, I’d say we can expect a torrent of iPhone applications in the coming months. Bring your umbrella.
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Apple has posted the video from its March 6 iPhone Software Roadmap event, available for viewing. Go here.
Months ago Apple made a promise to developers, committing to one day release an SDK and open the iPhone for platform development. Today it made good on its promise, and reaffirmed that old adage “good things come to those who wait”.
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For those of you looking for forward to building apps for iPhone, don’t plan on writing that code on Windows. According to story posted on iPodNN, Apple will be making its upcoming iPhone SDK available for Mac only, with Leopard as required OS. That?s not surprising given that iPhone runs on an embedded flavor of OSX, and it?s not as though Mac software can be written in Microsoft Visual Studio. Apparently Apple will be releasing an enhanced version of Xcode, with built-in tools for iPhone application development.
So there you have it. Buy a Mac mini, fire up Xcode, and start compiling.
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