Tag Archive for 'Apple'

WTF? Adobe not working on Flash for iPhone after all.

Published on March 21, 2008 in Mobile. 8 Comments

That's it, I give up. I'm shutting my ears off to anything that has Flash and iPhone in the same sentence.

First Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced that they were working on Flash for the iPhone, now Adobe clarifies that no, they're actually not.

You know, I don't even have the energy to go into the details. Here, read this.

Damn you Apple for hooking me in with your wonderfuckingly cool UI and then shackling me with your sub-par feature-set. I want my Flash Player and my 3G, you hear?

You've spoilt me; I can't use any other handset now without feeling like I'm handling ancient relic and yet I can't do simple things like copy-and-paste and connect my laptop to the Internet through my phone.

Adobe building Flash Player for iPhone

Published on March 19, 2008 in Adobe, Apple, Flash and iPhone. 5 Comments

Finally, some concrete news on the Flash Player for iPhone front: according to the Wall Street Journal, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen announced in a conference call to investors that Adobe has begun work on a Flash Player that is suitable for the Apple iPhone.

It looks like Adobe is building the "product in the middle" that Steve Jobs is looking for. Let's hope Apple cooperates by adding the Flash Player to Safari on the iPhone.

This is a good move by Adobe. At the very least, they'll be able to say, "look, here's the Flash Player for iPhone, now it's up to Apple whether they include it in Safari or not." If Apple doesn't then it will end up looking bad as it willfully contradicts its own promise to deliver a non-watered down version of the Internet on the iPhone.

Via: ericd via AppleInsider via WSJ.

Microsoft licenses Flash Lite for mobile phones (yay or yawn?)

Published on March 17, 2008 in Apple, Microsoft, Mobile and iPhone. 6 Comments

As a Flash developer, I'm happy whenever anyone licenses anything Flash for any purpose whatsoever. It strengthens a platform that I love developing for. However, the news that Microsoft has licensed Flash Lite for its Windows Mobile phones doesn't excite me too greatly.

Flash Lite definitely has its place on mobile phones but that place is not to play back web-based Flash content. Flash Lite plays back Flash Lite content specifically created for phones and other devices like the Chumby. The best uses of it that I've seen are to build interface elements and other apps that integrate into the phone's operating system. Flash Lite cuts down development and testing time (and thus costs and time-to-market) considerably for such use cases.

What would excite me far more would have been an announcement that a mobile phone supported the full version of the Flash Player. There are, of course, optimization issues to consider. Steve Jobs mentioned that the iPhone cannot run the full version of the latest Flash Player. He also spoke about how Flash Lite is too light. As I mentioned previously, he's spot on.

What we need is a Flash Player for mobile phones that can play back existing Flash content on the web.

Phone and mobile device processors are increasing in speed to the point where I can run Flex sites on my Nokia N800 which supports the full Flash 9 Player.

Next step: Flash 9 (10?) on a phone?

I don't see Flash Lite going away as it has important uses in creating UIs for phone OSes and native apps but don't confuse the presence of Flash Lite on a phone with Flash support. I understand Flash support as the ability to play back existing Flash content on the web. As far as I know, no phone currently does this.

The iPhone created the expectation that mobile devices should be able to faithfully display the web. That's an expectation that Apple can only half meet at the moment (and they're the closest ones to meeting it at all.) As such, a mobile Flash Player that rendered existing content would be a game changer. I can only wonder if Apple is working on such a third option.

I also wonder if this is the goal that Microsoft is aiming for with mobile Silverlight? If mobile Silverlight can render existing web Silverlight content then it will have a technical leg up on Flash in the mobile arena. On the flip side, there isn't really that much Silverlight content on the web today to start with (this is a situation that I know Microsoft is pushing very hard to change).

To conclude, I applaud Microsoft's adoption of Flash Lite in its Windows Mobile phones and look forward to seeing how they implement and use it. I'm not as excited about this development, however, as I would have been by the announcement of web Flash content support by a mobile device. That would truly be an exciting turning point for mobile Flash.

Can geographical pricing survive the information age?

Published on January 25, 2008 in General. 18 Comments

You thought Apple was ripping you off with the price of iTunes songs in the UK? You should see what Sony is doing!

There was heated furor over Apple charging different prices in the UK than elsewhere which got somewhat resolved recently when Apple standardized its iTunes prices across the EU.

The whole deal there was because people in the UK were paying at most 13p per song more than their European counterparts. But, because there was a considerable price difference between EU countries, the EU got involved. Unfortunately, no such action will be taken against Sony, who, as we say in the UK, is really taking the piss with their pricing because the EU has no jurisdiction over pricing differences between non-EU and EU countries.

So we're used to paying more for stuff in the UK but when does the price difference become ridiculous?

Is paying 50% more for something acceptable? OK, how about 100% more?

Hmm, how about more than 100% more for the same thing?

Case in point: I was browsing the online Playstation store on my PS3 and I thought I'd download Piyotama. At £3.49, you can't go wrong, right? Well something told me to read a review before buying it. I found a couple from US web sites but one thing struck me immediately. They all listed the game as being available in the US for $2.99.

Why's this strange?

Because with an almost 2:1 exchange rate, we're not used to seeing the actual price of an item be higher in the UK than in the US.

So Sony is selling Piyotama for $2.99 in the US and approximately $6.91 here in the UK. That's more than double the price!

For every one copy here, you could buy two copies of it in the US and still have enough left over to buy a double cheese burger at Burger King (though why you would willingly subject yourself to such abuse is beyond me!) :)

To cut a long story short, I know it's ridiculous but now I can't bring myself to spending a meager £3.49 on a game because I feel like I'm getting ripped off. How crazy is that?

Geographical pricing works as evidenced by the fact that I was going to buy the game without another thought. But then I found out how much it costs in the US and my opinion was radically altered.

To be effective, geographical pricing requires us to be in the dark about how much things cost elsewhere. Otherwise, it can very easily lead to feelings of resentment. No one likes to feel like they're getting ripped off.

What will be the long term effect of this resentment on a company's image? How will it affect customer loyalty when a competitor springs up that doesn't employ geographical pricing?

What do you think? Can geographical pricing survive the information age? Or is this walled-garden approach eventually doomed to extinction thanks to the Internet?

iPhone 1.1.3 firmware jailbroken, to be released next month

Published on January 19, 2008 in Apple. 14 Comments

I just read on Digg that the 1.1.3 firmware for the iPhone has been jailbroken. The team that did it, however, is not releasing it until Apple's iPhone SDK is out so that Apple doesn't patch it.

This means you have to wait until sometime in February before you can run 1.1.3 on a hacked iPhone.

Update: Marcus clarified in the comments that the firmware has been jailbroken and that this is not an unlock. So you can run homebrew apps on it but you won't be able to make phone calls, etc., with the 1.1.3 firmware until the phone is unlocked. (Thanks, Marcus!)

The video here shows the 1.1.3 firmware in use on a jailbroken iPhone.

I'm still on the initial firmware on my hacked iPhone. It was just too much trouble to upgrade/rehack/risk bricking the phone/etc. I will probably upgrade to this when it's released, though, since the first version of the firmware really does suck big time.

Apple MacBook Air: Are you getting one?

Published on January 15, 2008 in Apple. 37 Comments

Macbook Air

OK, so the cat's out of the bag: there's a new MacBook in town. The MacBook Air is light, it's got a multi-touch trackpad and a full-size backlit keyboard.

The US price for the base config (1.6GHz) is $1,799. And the 1.8GHz model with 64GB SSD will set you back a whopping $3,098.

In the UK, we're going to have to pay £1,199 ($2,359.51) for the 1.6GHz config and £2,028.00 ($3,990.91) for the 1.8GHz model (thanks, Apple! Well, I guess we should thank our lucky stars that we're not paying double!)

The MacBook Air looks like a beauty and weighs 3lbs. And, according to Apple, it's the thinnest notebook ever.

So, what do you guys think of this baby? The Apple Store has reopened... are you going to splurge? Is it too expensive? Are you happy with the specs?

Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

Update: WTF? It doesn't have a user-replaceable battery? Were they high when they designed this? I mean, I don't care how good it looks or how long the battery is purported to last, I definitely wouldn't buy a laptop where I can't have a spare battery. The way batteries lose their charge these days (no doubt thanks to how hot Macs run), that 5 hours will start to taper off after the first few months. And sending your laptop in to have the battery replaced and not being without it for several days? No way!

I guess Apple expects people to have this as a second laptop or a companion to a desktop. There's no way I'd make it my workhorse. As much as I'd love to, the lack of replaceable battery is a deal-breaker.

Exclusive MacWorld Rehearsal Pic Reveals Real Bombshell

Published on January 14, 2008 in Apple. 8 Comments

Steve Jobs in Track Suit

Hot on the heels of our previous exposé, we've received an exclusive photo from today's MacWorld keynote rehearsal at the Moscone Center that clearly shows the real bombshell that is going to make shockwaves at Steve Jobs' keynote tomorrow.

At the risk of causing widespread financial turmoil in the world's markets, we feel it's our journalistic duty to reveal that, according to photographic evidence which we present above, Mr. Jobs will be abandoning his trademark turtleneck sweater and blue jeans in favor of a sporty red tracksuit.

In the photo, Steve Jobs, seen gesticulating about a new product that you will be buying next week, looks comfortable in his new outfit.

Industry pundits will no doubt be falling over themselves to speculate on the reasons behind this latest unpredicted development. Our inside sources were uncharacteristically quiet, leading some in the press room to believe that super secretive Steve may have kept his costume change from even his inner circle at Apple. One industry analyst familiar with the photograph conjectured that it would make perfect sense for Mr. Jobs to seek sportier attire if he was to open the keynote by riding in on a flying MacBook Pro.

Others predicted that this might signal the launch of the long-rumored iPod Sport, also known as Sporty Pod (not as hot as the other iPods but with much better audio quality).

Here in the United Kingdom, a rowdy bunch of drunk teenagers commented "Oy, 'e looks jus' like us!" before downing another one. This prompted some to suspect that Steve Jobs may be attempting to woo the lucrative UK chav market after years spent ignoring this key demographic.

Not to be outdone, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to present in nothing but a thong after shaking his booty to Britney Spears' "Gimme More" at the Convergence 2008 conference in March.

Original photo of Steve Jobs by Ben Stanfield. Remixed by Aral Balkan.

Apple to debut flying MacBook Pro

Published on January 11, 2008 in Apple. 24 Comments

Flying Macbook Pros

ArseArs Technica have photos from the Moscone Center ahead of MacWorld on Tuesday where you can clearly see the message "2008 There's something in the air". I guess you know as well as I do what that means.

Yes, my friends, it's as good as official:

Apple is going to be releasing flying MacBook Pros (dubbed the MacBook Pro iFly) on Tuesday.

The iFlies are expected to relieve geeks of the physical pressures of carrying around their notebooks which will henceforth follow them around.

AralBalkan.com can also reveal that Steve Jobs is expected to announce the immediate availability of the new flying MacBook Pros by releasing a flock of them on stage at the end of the keynote.

It all makes sense. We've all been expecting the MacBook Pro line to get a radical overhaul this year. While Apple was busy spreading misinformation about an ultra-slim notebook they were secretly putting the finishing touches on the new MacBook Pro's dilithium crystal-powered nano warp drives. Insiders close to Apple have revealed that although the new notebooks are theoretically capable of Warp 9 speed, Apple will be artificially clamping speeds at Warp 1 for the initial run. We have, however, learned that Philip Torrone and his elite Make ninjas are close to perfecting a trans-dimensional time machine which they plan to use to go back in time, hack the new MacBook Pros before release to remove the restriction and create the world's first pre-hacked product release in the process (good luck guys!)

Several industry analysts that we spoke to predicted that we should grow accustomed to seeing flocks of MacBook Pros flying over major cities and an almost permanent spectre of circling notebooks should be expected to circle local Starbucks stores and university campuses.

The Mac rumor community will no doubt be completely blindsided by this latest development and I expect MacRumors.com, TUAW, etc. will be linking to this post within minutes of it going live (losers! pwned!)

Apple releases a fix for Leopard keyboard freezes

Published on December 19, 2007 in Apple and OS X. 15 Comments

John Grden just forwarded me an email form John Olsen (thanks guys) alerting me that Apple has reportedly released a fix for the keyboard freezing issue in Leopard.

That's good news but, to tell you the truth, I'm going to wait a couple of months at least before even considering giving Leopard another shot. See, the thing is, I'm really happy on Tiger and downgrading to it made me realize just how many little issues I had with Leopard (responsiveness, general quirkiness, etc.) I absolutely love how stable Tiger is. I love how Tiger looks (yes, I love my non-transparent menu bar, rounded corners and blue apple logo) and I love how everything (all applications, etc.) work. I love the level of polish Tiger has.

Tiger doesn't remind me of Windows at all and Leopard did.

Part of Apple's corporate culture is its arrogance. The problem with arrogance is that, combined with incompetence it makes you appear a fool. Apple can be as arrogant as they want with Tiger. It's a shining beacon of stability and aesthetics, a perfect marriage of form and function. It just works. Not so with Leopard, at least not yet.

In Leopard, form trumps function and eye-candy exists for its own sake while fundamental characteristics of the operating system like stability are compromised.

I'm personally going to wait until Apple or third parties at least give me the option to make Leopard more like Tiger before I upgrade again. I'm guessing this will be in the 10.5.2 - 10.5.4 timeframe.

And really, I don't miss anything that Leopard had. I definitely do not miss the IMHO butt ugly interface. The Finder enhancements were really nice (I loved the breadcrumbs, for one), spotlight was far more useful and I did enjoy the integration between Mail and iCal but I value a stable system far more than any of these. And I didn't really get to use Time Machine as I'm on a laptop and don't have a USB drive plugged in all the time (here's hoping for that dual hard-drive laptop in '08, Apple... and I'll have that second one removable/hot swappable if you don't mind!) :)

I know that Leopard is working well for some of you and that some of you are very happy with it and that's great! But I see Leopard as more of an alternative to Tiger than an upgrade.

At the end of the day, the kitty that still has this early adopter's heart is Tiger.

Leopard: Great eye candy, pity the keyboard doesn’t always work.

Published on December 9, 2007 in Apple, Bitching and OS X. 35 Comments

<rant>

Dear Apple,

I have a Macbook Pro. It's your hardware. Unmodified. As shipped from your factory. I also recently bought your operating system upgrade for OS X Leopard. The only problem is that since I upgraded to Leopard, I can't use my keyboard without it freezing every few minutes.

Yeah, that does suck. In fact, it sucks huge hairy elephant balls.

See, this other company, Microsoft, they got the whole keyboard thing working without a hitch in, oh, what was it? Version 1?

You see, Apple, keyboards are important things. They're usually the primary means by which we provide input to our computers. In fact, I'm trying to use one right now -- quite unsuccessfully, I might add -- to write this blog post.

You remember those arrogant "I'm a Mac" ads that tout how reliable Macs are when compared to PCs? (And they truly were with Tiger.) I used to chuckle at them as I remembered what hell my life was under Windows before I switched last year. The only problem is that since I upgraded to Leopard, the ads seem further and further removed from reality. I kind of miss how I never had to worry about my keyboard freezing up in the 23 years that I used Windows. I'm beginning to eye those shiny new Vaios with envy again.

What the fuck is wrong with you Apple? You haven't even publicly acknowledged this issue and it has been reported to you over a hundred times on your own support forums for the past month.

Here's the Apple ad that Microsoft should make ASAP:

Mac: Hi, I'm a ................
PC (grinning): Mac?.. Mac?.. I think his keyboard's frozen again. But have you seen his shiny new 3D dock? Ooh-la-la!

Apple, do you have any idea how incompetent this makes you look?

Most importantly, the first thing you need to do is to officially acknowledge that the problem exists.

Yes, bugs are a fact of life in our industry but it is also common practice to _acknowledge and fix them_.

Next, state that you are working 24/7 on isolating it and finding a fix for it. Tell us you're aware of the problem and working on it. Heck, say you understand. While you're at it, you might even apologize to the hundreds (thousands?) of people who are losing their productivity due to this unbelievable bug.

And scrap your arrogant ads, you don't deserve them anymore. Maybe snack on humble pie for the next year or so until you get Leopard as stable as Tiger was.

Leopard just works? My ass! Tiger just worked. Not Leopard.

(Do I seem _really_ annoyed? Maybe it's because my keyboard has frozen about a dozen times so far in writing this blog post.)

I'm just one previously enthusiastic Apple user who is getting ever more annoyed and disenchanted with Apple. Something tells me that I'm not the only one. Here's a quote from one of the frustrated MacBook Pro owners on Apple's support forums:

Sadly, I am writing this from my Dell. I can't stand using the MBP at this point. How could they let a bug like this get out? At my company, a team would be working 24/7 to fix a problem like this. Do you want to begin to quantify how much this could cost Apple in the long run? Every day without a fix is another level reached in my anger and I assume there are thousands of others like me. I have two friends who are also having the problem now. One MPB from Fall '06 and one MPB from last week! Mine is from early October. I will not be buying Leopard for my fiancee's (fall 06) MacBook Pro this Christmas!

Oh and if any you should come by the cafe I'm in the next few minutes, I'll be the one with the shiny Macbook Pro frantically tapping his Num Lock key to see if his keyboard is back so he can continue working.

Un-fuckin'-believable.

Thanks a whole bunch, Apple! I'm off to restart my computer and (hopefully) get my keyboard back so I can do some work instead of bitching about my computer not working.

</rant off>

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