May 21, 2010
I honestly didn’t know what to think when I looked at this five page missive by Brandt Dainow. The bottom line, which happens to be in the very first paragraph, is that Apple is destined for failure because its iPhone and iPad have no future.
Okay. I still don’t know what to say.
Apple’s new iAd proposition has been generating a great deal of discussion lately, most of it positive, and most of it remarkably short-sighted. It seems most people, including Steve Jobs, have forgotten the basic lessons of computing and the internet. People who forget history are doomed to repeat it. The iAd has no future, and neither does the iPhone/iPad. I will show why iAds must inevitably die, and how Steve Job’s strategy for iPhone and iPad will inevitably lead Apple into becoming at best a marginal niche player, at worst an ex-business.
Why iAds will fail [iMedia Connection]
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I is the next installment of Sega’s long-running franchise featuring the fast-as-lightning blue critter in red kicks. The company has announced da delay on the game to the second half of 2010, but revealed something else in the announcement: It’ll come to the iPhone too. The game had previously been expected specifically for Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and WiiWare.
Sonic 4 Delayed, Coming to iPhone [IndustryGamers]
The Mac may not be a big part of this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, but Apple certainly hasn’t forgot about it. It launched “Why you’ll love a Mac” campaign on Friday to educate potential switchers. (more…)
Games are certainly one of the biggest app categories for the iPhone, and it may become more popular in the next little while, at least among Star Wars fans. Star Wars: The Battle for Hoth will be out for the iPhone “very soon,” — a specific release date wasn’t given. Even people that aren’t fans of Star Wars will most likely recognize the large robot walkers that were used in the movie and the game.
In the iPhone game you take the role of the commander of the Rebel forces defending the shield generators from the Imperial forces. As the game progresses through 15 levels, additional units will be added to both the Rebel and Imperial sides.
Star Wars: The Battle for Hoth Details Released [148Apps.com]
May 20, 2010
Facebook has been under a lot of pressure lately about its privacy settings, but that could be just the beginning. After questions were raised by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook actually changed some of its computer code, but surely that won’t be enough to get them off the hook.
Advertising companies were given information that could be used to look up individual profiles, which, depending on the site and the information a user has made public, include such things as a person’s real name, age, hometown and occupation.
Facebook, MySpace Confront Privacy Loophole [WSJ]
The funny crew over at MacLife had some fun with the number of lawsuits that have been filed against Apple lately. They put together a fill-in-the-blank lawsuit PDF, complete with hints on what words you should put in the empty spaces. It’s almost impossible to make a mistake — and it’s pretty funny too.
Create Your Own Apple Lawsuit Mac Lib [MacLife]
Over the years Sony has developed a reputation for being arrogant. It’s a reputation that is somewhat deserved, especially when paired with comments made by former Sony chairman and CEO Ken Kutagari (who once told reporters that the PS3’s extraordinary price – $599 at launch – should encourage people to work longer hours to afford one, for example). That isn’t stopping Sony Computer Entertainment Australia executive Michael Ephraim from calling the kettle black by accusing Apple of arrogance, however.
“I don’t think we are arrogant anymore,” he told the Brisbane Times in a recent interview. “I think we can name a company that is a fruit that is in the news a lot about their arrogance. I think they have taken the mantle from us, if we were ever arrogant!”
Apple Is More Arrogant, suggests Sony [IndustryGamers]
Apple sold its first 1 million iPads in just 28 days, so its no surprise that market research firm IDC sees the device as driving global adoption of media tablets. (more…)
According to one industry analyst, Apple’s recently released iPad has surpassed the Mac in terms of sales per week. (more…)
May 19, 2010
Apple is being sued for allegedly infringing a patent that covers selling music over the Internet, according to a new lawsuit filed in the U.S. (more…)
AppleInsider had a story yesterday that Apple was refocusing its professional Final Cut Pro apps to more of a prosumer suite. I talked to Apple today and they said its pro apps are staying pro and its customers will be pleased. No doubt they’ll continue to add consumer and prosumer features, but there are a lot of pros out there that rely on these apps.
Apple to keep the ‘pro’ in Final Cut Pro [CNET]
Like many people on Wednesday, I downloaded the new free Twitter for iPhone app as soon as it was released. I’ve already made my decision, I’m sticking with Twitterrific. (more…)
Google co-founder Larry Page admitted during a talk at Google’s annual partner forum, Google Zeitgeist, that multitasking and some apps could drain the battery of its Android phone. (more…)
The long awaited Twitter client for the iPhone has arrived. Twitter 3.0 showed up in my list of downloads just a few minutes. (more…)
The talk of a Verizon iPhone started as soon as the device was first released. That was three versions ago and AT&T is still the exclusive carrier in the U.S. However, if that did change, some people think that hordes of customers would leave AT&T and join Verizon. AT&T CEO Ralph de la Vega isn’t concerned.
AT&T wireless CEO Ralph de la Vega said this morning at the JPMorgan tech conference (without formally confirming that iPhone exclusivity is ending). Why not? Because switching carriers is still pretty tricky to do.
AT&T Wireless CEO: Here’s Why We Won’t Get Our Butts Kicked When The iPhone Goes To Verizon [Business Insider]
There was a lot of talk earlier this week about an NPD report that put Apple’s iPhone OS behind Google’s Android in terms of market share. However, a new report by market research firm Gartner says Apple is winning the race. (more…)
A new report released on Wednesday by market research firm Gartner shows that Apple increased its iPhone sales in the first quarter of 2010 by 112.2 percent over the same period last year. (more…)
May 18, 2010
Apple is being sued for infringing on patents for the way it summarizes data on its Mac computers and Mac OS X operating system. (more…)
CNBC’s Jim Goldman on Monday said Apple should buy gaming company Electronic Arts, but Business Insider’s Dan Frommer thinks its a bad idea. I have to agree with Frommer on this one. There was a time when people wanted Apple to purchase companies just to bring apps to the platform, but Apple is way beyond that now.
Yes, there are plenty of reasons for Apple to continue to work closely with Electronic Arts. But there are no reasons for Apple to own it.
No Way, Apple Should NOT Buy Electronic Arts [Business Insider]
Nodconcept on Tuesday released its newest app, bringing the popular Emoti iPhone app to the iPad. (more…)
Apple on Tuesday launched a new video section on its iTunes Store, designed specifically for the ladies. (more…)
Adobe has some of the best apps on the market today, but when it comes to getting Flash on a consumer device like the iPhone, the company’s cries for solidarity seem to be falling on deaf ears. (more…)
Apple added a speed boost and longer battery life to its MacBook line of computers on Tuesday as the company quietly released an update to the notebooks. The price remains the same at $999. Looks like a good time to pick up a MacBook.
The new MacBook now has a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of memory. The notebook has a 250GB hard drive and boasts battery-life of 10 hours, up from the seven hour battery of the previous model. The MacBook is also now using the NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics card, the newest mobile card from the company.
Apple refreshes the MacBook with faster processor [CNET]
May 17, 2010
After admitting to collecting data from Wi-Fi networks, Google could find itself at the center of investigations in both Germany and the U.S. The data was being collected by the cars Google uses for its mapping service, which also collected Wi-Fi addresses and snippets of data.
“This may be one of the most massive surveillance incidents by a private corporation that has ever occurred”, said Marc Rotenberg, leader of the nonprofit Electronic Privacy Information Centre in Washington.“It is unprecedented vacuuming of WiFi data by a private company. Can you imagine what would happen if a German corporation was sending cars through Washington sucking up all this information?”
Google set for probes on data harvesting [Financial Times]
Piper Jaffray Senior Research analyst Gene Munster said on Monday that he sees no signs that the iPad is cannibalizing sales of the Mac. (more…)
Renowned photographer Chase Jarvis is hosting a set of three, free classes for photographers that want to get more out of Apple’s professional workflow application, Aperture 3. (more…)
The ongoing battle between Apple and Adobe began to heat up earlier this year after it became clear that the iPad would not support Flash. The two companies brought the fight to the public in recent weeks, and I wanted to try a different approach to track how people feel about each of them, using the Wisdom of Crowds principle. (more…)
May 14, 2010
What a day it has been. After the news that the judge would unseal documents related to the iPhone 4G and Gizmodo, everyone waited to see what would happen. There were more than a few surprises and some juicy tidbits that came out late today. First, here are a couple of choice quotes from the articles and then links to some of the better stories out there. (more…)
This case is about to get a lot more interesting. San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Clifford Cretan ordered the documents in the Gizmodo iPhone 4G case unsealed on Friday. The judge said he read the affidavit and there is no confidential informant. Media organizations that banded together to ask for the documents to be unsealed include Wired.com, the Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and CNET.
Cretan said he only agreed to to seal the document in the first place because it involved a fast-moving, active investigation, and because “the warrant involved possible intrusion into media sources,” said the judge. “Which is ironic. Now it’s media seeking to open things up.”The judge added that information contained in the affidavit has already emerged in the press. Last month Wired.com reported that 21-year-old Brian J. Hogan, of Redwood City, California, was the one who came into possession of the prototype iPhone at an area bar, and passed it to Gizmodo in exchange for a payment.
Judge Orders Gizmodo Search Papers Unsealed [Wired.com]
We all saw Adobe’s new ad campaign launched yesterday with the tagline, “We Love Apple,” which not-so-subtly tries to get people on its side in the battle with Apple over Flash. MG Siegler wrote a great post yesterday that drew me in right away with a funny headline.
You’ve just spent God-knows how much money on an ad buy that blankets much of the technology press (including this site). It’s a strange passive-aggressive message that just makes Jobs’ aggressive-aggressive post from a few weeks ago seem even more forceful. And it’s transparent. But worst of all, it won’t work. You must know this.On the face of it, the ad is an attempt to convince people that you’re the good guys in this fight. “We Love Apple” — the problem is, you don’t love Apple. Why on Earth would you? They’re completely screwing you right now. Everyone knows that. You’d have to be crazy to love Apple right now.
Adobe, You Brought An Advertisement To A Gun Fight [TechCrunch]
