Apple and Wibrain?

One of the visitors to Wibrain Kiosk at IDF was Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple.

Is Apple exploring the market to make it own UMPC?

i-Kit iPhone FM Hands-free car kit & FM transmitter

I should probably let you know that I am the master of Jerry-rigging stuff. A few examples: I have a  screw/ring that I use to tune one of the broken machine heads on my 1939 Johann Nurnberg double bass… I have two broken guitar pedals that that I use to balance and  prop up the front feet of my 1970 Fender Rhodes organ (that is missing one of the leg extenders)… For years, I used a toothpick to hold in the bass boost button on my home stereo… the list goes on and on.  It’s just who I am and how I operate. I am cool with it.

Even though I am fairly practical about form/function and am usually forgiving when it comes to aesthetics, I also don’t want you all to think that  I am not capable of appreciating something that is beautiful or works well. On the contrary, I’d pimp any Harold Van Doren object, any day of the week. I can appreciate something that is elegant or makes it easy on you, while not always requiring it. I’m kind of “Jekyll and Hyde” like that. Dig?

So when I received the MediaGate i-Kit FM Hands-free car kit & FM transmitter to review, at first I think I questioned if I needed it, but after about 2 days, I really began to appreciate it. Now, I am not trying to say it’s beautiful, like a Van Doren scooter or anything, but for $50-$60 it looks reasonably good and works pretty well. It definitely makes it easy on you, if you want to screw around with your iPhone/iPod in the car.

In a nutshell, the i-Kit is an FM transmitter for you iPhone/iPod that transmits the output of your device, wirelessly, to your car stereo, while at the same time keeping it charged. It has a couple of other extra features too, so lets just go ahead and list them all.

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Was it a case of over reaction ?

Possibly this follow-up might make some folks feel a little better about the concern that was raised  by Jonathan Zdziarski, author of the book iPhone Open Application Development and an iPhone Forensics manual:

“This suggests that the iPhone calls home once in a while to find out what applications it should turn off. At the moment, no apps have been blacklisted, but by all appearances, this has been added to disable applications that the user has already downloaded and paid for, if Apple so chooses to shut them down.

“I discovered this doing a forensic examination of an iPhone 3G. It appears to be tucked away in a configuration file deep inside CoreLocation.”

Engadget Mobile seems to think you all can breathe a big sigh of relief.  According to John Gruber (Daring Fireball), via “an informed source at Apple” — the “clbl” stands for “Core Location Blacklist” and stipulates specific pieces of software that don’t have access to in the Core Location.

Possibly this is a better interpretation …. one never knows, does one?  Check out John Gruber’s piece here at Daring Fireball.

How the iPhone 3G is going to save my career

Stop. Reverse. The year is 1999. Picture this: An office filled with a staff of coders and designers, frantically working around the clock to deliver a mobile software portal. As we peer down the aisles, we see lots of RIM 857s, 957s, Palm VIIs, Mountain Dew bottles and pizza boxes strewn about. There are looks of concern, excitement, fatigue and elation on the faces of the 20 or so people working and at the end of the row, there is some dude operating a mouse with his toes. What? That’s right, there is some doofus with his sock off, wearing giant wrist guards, cripplingly typing on computer keys with a pencil and yes, using a standard computer mouse with his foot.

That would be me.

Let me preface by saying that, as a graphic designer and upright bassist, I have been plagued for  many years with wrist problems (carpal tunnel and tendonitis) and by the late 90’s it nearly ended my career in design and sent me on long hiatus from playing bass. By the time I started working for a mobile dot-com start up in 1999, I could barely even use a computer. I had been through cortisone shots, rehab therapies and had tried all kinds of crazy things in order to keep working in the industry, (including getting really good with using a regular-old mouse with my foot). What ultimately happened is that my employer purchased me a Wacom tablet for me and viola… I was healed. Seriously, just changing that one wrist motion, along with setting up my workspace a little differently, pretty much saved my career.

Stop. Fast-forward 9 years. Here I am, still designing, still playing bass, still as much of a mobile junkie as ever (if not even more), and using a Blackjack II like its made out of cocaine and I am Al Pacino in Scarface. About 5 months ago, that old familiar feeling started to creep back into my wrists, this time more around my thumbs. Aaaaarrrrrrr, could it be Blackberry Thumb? More than likely. But connection to the outside world through my little phone is too much temptation to resist over-use. Again, I found myself typing with one hand, or with my knuckles. The pain coming back. Concern mounting in my mind.

Let’s get one thing straight… I am no "Apple Fanboy". In fact many times of the years I feel Apple have dropped the ball or let me down in terms of processing speed or other things. In fact, I am usually not much of a brand loyalist with anything. I mostly search for the tool, service or product that best executes, regardless of brand.

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Are iPhone 3Gs developing cracks?

Cracks?  It appears to be so based on a post from Engadget Mobile.  There appears to be a series of hairline cracks that are appearing on Apple’s new iPhone 3G. Some think it may be just on the White model but it is more likely that it just shows better on that model, Black would hide it better.  Although it does not have an affect on the usability of the device, it may well end up being a big issue for Apple.

Do you have an iPhone 3G?  Are you seeing any of these tiny fractures?

There is some discussion here at MacRumors forum and here at Apple Discussions

MobileMe … Ragged Edges

It looks like Walt Mossberg is not to happy with the MobileMe $100 a year service that would bring corporate-type synchronization of email, calendars and contacts to anyone.  He said that unfortunately, after a week of intense testing of the service, he can’t recommend it in its current state.

It never pays to rush!  Check out all of Walt’s comments here at the WSJ.com

Blackberry Owners can now Sync with iTunes

You can now add your iTunes Music to your BlackBerry…

Use BlackBerry Media Sync to get your desktop iTunes music files on your BlackBerry smartphone. Whether it’s a specific playlist from your collection, or a random mix of tunes, it’s incredibly easy to transfer the music you want to take with you.

• Easy to Update - If you make changes to one of your iTunes playlists, the next time you sync your BlackBerry smartphone and your computer, BlackBerry Media Sync will make sure the music on your device is updated too.
• All the Memory You Need - Whether you choose the playlists or have download a random selection to your BlackBerry, you can control how much of your music is synced to your BlackBerry smartphone.
• And with support for a microSD card for expandable storage, you can get plenty of free memory to store all your music, as well as the other files you want to carry on your BlackBerry smartphone.

Download BlackBerry Media Sync!

via Mobile Syrup

MySpace Mobile Application for the iPhone

Getting a new iPhone?  Here is something you can get from MySpace to move through your MySpace network.  Social networking website MySpace announces a highly integrated new MySpace Mobile experience customized and available via the Apple App Store.

The free MySpace mobile application for the iPhone empowers users to seamlessly traverse their MySpace global network on-the-go and boasts key features including instant photo uploading from the iPhone to a MySpace profile. The new MySpace Mobile application is specially designed for the portable screen of the iPhone. This video gives you a demonstration of the Myspace Mobile application for the Apple iPhone.

Should you buy the new iPhone?

I suppose that is a question that current users are asking as well as potential new adopters.  Walt Mossberg from WSJ.com has some very interesting thoughts that you should read if the new iPhone is in your radar.  Battery life and overall cost has to be a consideration and Walt seemed to hit those nails very hard. 

There are two big hidden costs to the new iPhone’s faster speed and lower price tag. First, in my tests, the iPhone 3G’s battery was drained much more quickly in a typical day of use than the battery on the original iPhone, due to the higher power demands of 3G networks. This is an especially significant problem because, unlike most other smart phones, the iPhone has a sealed battery that can’t be replaced with a spare.

Second, Apple’s exclusive carrier in the U.S., AT&T Inc., has effectively negated the iPhone’s up-front price cut by jacking up its monthly fee for unlimited data use by $10. Over the course of the two-year contract you must sign to get the lower hardware prices, that adds $240, overwhelming the $200 savings on the phone itself. If you want text messaging, the cost rises further. With the first iPhone, 200 text messages a month came free. Now, 200 messages will cost $5 a month, or another $120 over the two-year contract.

Check out his thoughts here at WSJ.com

The iPhone 3G is coming … Friday

So are you thinking about the iPhone 3G?  Do you know where you can buy it?  You can locate a store near you where you can purchase your iPhone and find out what you need to bring with you by clicking on this link. If you’re new to AT&T, for example, you’ll need your current wireless account number and password.

iPhone 3G syncs with many applications on your Mac or PC. So if you organize your contacts, calendars, music, photos, and other information now, you’ll be ready to sync when you get your iPhone home. Learn more on how to get ready.

 

• Contacts and CalendarsiPhone syncs with iCal and Address Book or Entourage on a Mac, with Outlook on a PC, and with Yahoo! Address Book and Google Contacts on the web.
• EmailiPhone works with the most popular email systems—including Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, AOL, and MobileMe. And iTunes syncs the settings from email accounts stored in Mail on a Mac or Outlook on a PC.
• PhotosiPhone uses iTunes to sync photos from iPhoto on a Mac, or Adobe Photoshop Elements, Adobe Photoshop Album, or any picture folder on a PC.
• Music and VideoIf you don’t have the latest version of iTunes, download it now and start a music and video library.
• iTunes AccountIf you don’t have an iTunes Store account, set one up now by downloading iTunes, selecting the iTunes Store, and clicking the Sign In button in the upper-right corner.

iPhone Gets Unofficial Support for Flash Lite

from MobileMag

Adobe and Apple haven’t exactly kissed and made up over the whole iPhone Flash situation just yet, so a rogue coder has decided to take it upon himself to bring Flash Lite to the Apple iPhone. Thomas Joos of Belgium doesn’t have a perfect port of Flash Lite and his creation is far from having any sort of official endorsement from Cupertino or Adobe, but it seems to be working just fine.

In the video embedded below, you can watch as Thomas walks you through at least one website that is powered by Flash. The support does not come natively, as he has go through b.Tween and eyeGT in order to get Flash to go on the iPhone. I wonder if he’d able to slip this into the upcoming AppStore without anyone noticing…

I love when people just make things happen. Brute force can be so elegant sometimes…

A Guided Tour of the iPhone 3G

Thinking of getting the iPhone 3G?  Get up to speed by watching the guided tour.  Click on the picture or the link below.

 

Apple - iPhone - A Guided Tour

3G iPhone In-Store Activation Explained

Looks like the supposed procedure for the launch of the 3G iPhone has been anonymously posted to an online discussion forum according to a post from Gear Diary.

Included is a link to what is said to be an advanced version of iTunes v7.6.3b4 that will allow the stores to “unbrick” the iPhones for in store activation. Apparently the new version of iTunes 7.7 due to be released on July 11 will include this activation mode.

If you are interested, there are a few launch week rules that you might want to check out here at Gear Diary

Apple to Invade China

Official word was released before the weekend that the Apple iPhone (as Steve Jobs had hinted at a while ago) is finally entering the massive Chinese market, with a deal with China Mobile.

Reuters is carrying the following quote:

But there is no timetable for when China Mobile would bring the iPhone to mainland China, a spokeswoman said. “Apple is no longer insisting on a revenue-sharing policy, so the biggest hurdle for China Mobile to bring in the iPhone has been cleared, but there are practical issues still to be resolved,” said China Mobile spokeswoman Rainie Lei.

Apple has decided to stop requiring that wireless network companies pay it part of the subscription fees they get from iPhone users. Instead, they will subsidize the devices up front to make them cheaper.

With no revenue sharing deal, it is quite likely that Apple will be just breaking even, if not losing money on this deal. However, I can easily see it as a prestige issue for Apple, as well as a move to try and block some surprisingly successful competitors, such as the Samsung Instinct or HTC Touch Pro, from stealing the largest phone market in the world. Certainly a good business move, no matter the short term cost.

What does this mean to iPhone buyers outside of China? Quite likely a shortage of iPhones due to the sudden inclusion of all those Chinese users. If the Russian market is also signed soon (as has been rumoured), supplies could get pretty thin on the ground. If there are any hiccups at all in Apple’s supply train on these devices, we could be seeing some interesting headlines by the end of the summer. Both in terms of resources and profit margin, Apple may be cutting this one very very close.

As for that groaning noise you hear in the background, that was the thousands of iPhone knockoff makers throwing themselves off the Great Wall.

The Rest of the World…

As the ongoing sturm und drang about the iPhone has been roiling around me, my thoughts keep going back to Apple’s “New World Order” and the long list of countries the new 3G iPhone is rolling out to in July.

The length of the list is certainly impressive and an achievement for Apple’s deal makers and the tech press/apple supporters which have relentlessly pushed the iPhone. It also does speak highly of the quality of the product. It is rare to find so much global interest in what is basically a high-end gadget.

However, I have begun to pay more attention to the actual content of this 70+ nation list. Some of the countries that are included seem a bit odd to be waiting in line for luxury tech-toys. Ivory Coast? Senegal? Macau? Guinea Bissau? Certainly these countries and their citizens have every right to purchase iPhones if they wish, but I hardly think they will see screaming mobs besieging the Mauritius Apple Store. Do you REALLY need 3G in Mali, where there is no 3G network to the best of my knowledge? Sort of like owning a clipper ship in Nebraska…nice, but it might as well be a rhododendron planter. In fact, I would say the vast majority of the countries on that list are 5 to 10 years away from deploying 3G anything.

This makes me think (cynical, I know) that most of the countries on this list are just there to pad the numbers. My cynicism is made all the stronger when I consider the countries that are NOT getting the iPhone. In fact, most of the major tech producing/utilizing countries outside North America/Europe are not getting the new iPhone, including:

• South Korea
• Israel
• China
• Taiwan
• Russia
• Dubai/UAE

So you can get an iPhone in Dakar or Yamoussoukro but not in Beijing, Moscow, or Seoul…seem odd to you too?

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