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TheAppleBlog
TheAppleBlog, published by and for the day-to-day Apple user, is a prominent source for news, reviews, walkthroughs, and real life application of all Apple products.
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Cool iPhone App: Start Your Car From Virtually Anywhere

In case you were wanting to experience the keyless remote entry system that came packaged with the new Zipcar app, but you already have a car of your own, you’re now in luck. According to Mashable, as of today, you can drop in at your local Best Buy and pick up a Viper keyless entry and remote starter system from Directed Electronics for any automobile that features iPhone integration.

Not only that, but the range for the SmartStart app (iTunes link) that controls remote entry and car starting is said to be “virtually unlimited,” likely owing to the fact that it communicates via a data network connection rather than over infrared, which requires line of sight, or Bluetooth, which needs proximity.

You can even turn on the heat using the app, and do other things like pop the trunk, honk the horn, or turn on the alarm to scare off ne’er-do-wells while you sip your latté at the Starbucks patio across the street. The app won’t allow to you drive your car remotely, but at this rate, there’s probably an app for that just around the corner, too. Or at least one for locking the car down entirely in cases of theft.

As mentioned above, the app apparently doesn’t need to be near the car to communicate with the receiver, so in theory you could be setting off your alarm and starting your car in Iowa while on vacation in Prague, though aside from the slim possibility that someone watching believes it’s a ghost car, I can’t really see the point. It could be handy, as Mashable points out, in a situation where a spouse or loved one is locked out of their vehicle or has lost their own set of keys.

Of course, as with all incredibly cool things, the new Viper system will cost you a not insignificant sum of money. If you’re entirely new to the Viper system, a fresh start will set you back about $500, while existing users can add iPhone accessibility via the SmartStart module to their system for the low price of $299.

The automation industry, including home lighting and temperature control, home audio and theater, and car stereo, security, and remote control has always seemed to me to occupy the realm of unnecessary eccentric luxuries reserved for the very rich. With the iPhone operating as a central device that’s finally capable of unifying all these disparate automation services, I’m beginning to see their wider market applicability. Companies like Directed Electronics and Sonos are perfect examples of how niche businesses can expand their target markets via iPhone integration.

In Q3, NewNet focus turns to business models and search. Read the, "NewNet Q3 Wrap-up."

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Disney Stores Get the Apple Magic

The New York Times reported yesterday that entertainment super giant Disney is planning to reboot its entire chain of global retail stores as part of a major new strategy and vision inspired and guided by Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

In the current economic climate, most retailers are looking for ways to cut down on spending and holding-back on investment and growth initiatives. But according to the New York Times' Brooks Barnes, Disney is taking a leaf out of Apple's book and using the economy's downtime to reinvent its own retail stores.

Disney is… getting more aggressive and putting into motion an expensive and ambitious floor-to-ceiling reboot of its 340 stores in the United States and Europe — as well as opening new ones.

This mirrors Apple's own aggressive efforts in the last 18 months to refurbish existing stores and open whole new outlets. It’s a strategy that’s paying off. In August, Bloomberg reported that Apple's retail stores were performing consistently well, despite the economic downturn.

Apple… increased revenue at its stores by 2.5 percent in the first six months of the year to $3 billion as the rest of the retail industry suffered. During the same period, sales at all U.S. retailers fell 9.2 percent compared with the first half of 2008, according to the U.S. Commerce Department.

So the investment and growth strategy is working well for Apple, and clearly Disney is hoping that some of Steve's retail magic might rub off on it.

Fingerprints

Steve Jobs joined Disney's board of directors as the majority shareholder in 2006, and, according to Barnes, "…[his] fingerprints can be seen on Disney strategy, in the same way that he influenced the look and feel of Apple's own immensely popular retail chain." And while Jobs didn't personally develop Disney's new retail strategy, he pushed the company to go for much more than a standard refurbishment. Andy Mooney, Chairman of Disney Consumer Products, is quoted saying, "Dream bigger — that was Steve's message," Certainly sounds like Steve, doesn’t it?

And the dream is big. Emphasis has moved away from regarding the Disney stores as merely merchandise outlets to something far more grand. "The world does not need another place to sell Disney merchandise — this only works if it's an experience," said Jim Fielding, President of Disney Stores Worldwide. "When consumers are ready to spend again, we will be ready."

The new stores will include theaters for children to watch their favourite Disney features, karaoke contests and even live satellite chat with Disney stars around the world. Smart displays with embedded sensors and audio/video components will create personalised experiences for shoppers. "Walk by a 'magic mirror' while holding a Princess tiara," writes Barnes, "and Cinderella might appear and say something to you."

In addition to the theater (in itself reminiscent of Apple Store's own in-store lecture and learning space), the new Disney stores will allow customers to interact with the high-tech fixtures and fittings via their iPhones. Employees will brandish hand-held payment devices, just as they do in Apple Stores.

Steve Jobs shared detailed documents on Apple's expertise in retail store development and management, while Disney Executives paid visits to Apple stores. According to Barnes, there was even a 'pilot' store to iron-out the wrinkles. Steve Jobs insisted Disney create a prototype store, which it dubbed "Imagination Park."

The company followed his advice, working for the last year on a full-scale, fully stocked store inside an unmarked warehouse in Glendale, California. The prototype was crucial to shaping an overall philosophy, Mr. Fielding said, noting that he discovered the shops needed more "Pixar-esque winks and nods." To that end, one sales area is now labeled "WWTD: What Would Tinker Bell Do?"

The new stores will be unveiled in May 2010 in Southern California, Long Island and Madrid. Disney is also planning to create a new flagship store in Times Square, New York.

What was the big news that happened in your sector in Q3? Catch up with GigaOM Pro's, "Quarterly Wrap-ups."

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UK Survey Indicates Palm Pre More Anticipated Than the iPhone

Market Research group TNS has published the results of a survey that finds the Palm Pre, due to be launched in the UK later this month, is more positively anticipated by consumers than the iPhone was in 2007.

Reported today on Electronista, the survey from TNS claims that of the 1,000 UK residents polled, a whopping 26 percent claimed they will buy, or probably will buy, a Palm Pre following its debut on the O2 network on October 16. That's compared with only 16 percent who expressed a desire to buy the iPhone when it was launched two years ago.

Furthermore, a stunning 32 percent of consumers currently signed to other carriers expressed a desire to switch to O2 in order to get their hands on Palm's beleaguered new device.

The report from TNS states;

While awareness of the Palm Pre is lower than that of the iPhone pre-launch, the figures suggest that once the new handset hits the shelves it has the potential to capture a substantial share of the UK's smartphone market.

I know what you're thinking, and I wondered the same thing; are UK consumers horribly uninformed, undemanding digital dilettantes…or is there something more to these results than first meets the eye?

A Rare Positive Sign for Palm?

Electronista suggests the apparent eagerness to get a Pre may lie in the fact that O2 is offering the handset for free with a two year contract. When the iPhone launched, O2 charged £269 ($426) for Apple's paradigm-shifting handset. Says Electronista:

The study if reflective of the wider UK market would be a rare positive sign for Palm, which has struggled to maintain attention for the Pre in the US and has only exported the Pre to Canadians until the pan-European launches this week

I'd love to know more about the socio-economic and geographic distribution of the sample TNS polled. Sadly, there's no such explanation, beyond a single line at the end of their summary that reads, "Online study of n=1,003 adults aged 16-64, October 2009." I asked TNS for more information, but never heard back from them. (If they do get back to me, I'll update this article appropriately.)

Kevin Evans, Associate Director at TNS Technology, adds:

With other promising new launches including Vodafone 360, MOTOBLUR and next-generation versions of Windows Mobile also challenging the iPhone's position as the dominant mobile multimedia platform, this is an exciting time for the industry and a great time to be a consumer.

Really? It remains to be seen whether the Vodafone 360 and MOTOBLUR platforms provide a truly compelling route into smartphone adoption — they're mostly built (and marketed) around the aggregation of social networking services and multimedia consumption. These features might attract young consumers unable to afford an iPhone, but I'm skeptical that this price-advantage will afford them a "substantial" share of the UK smartphone market.

And as for the "next-generation versions of Windows Mobile,” (I must tread carefully here, so as to avoid the accusations of “Fanboy!” in the comments below) WM7 has been so often delayed that at this point, it's more accurately labeled vaporware than considered potential competition to modern smartphone platforms. I'd like to think that Mr Evans had his tongue wedged firmly in his cheek when he suggested Windows Mobile contributed to this being an 'exciting time' for the industry.

I'm all for competition shaking up the market (after all, strong competition is the only thing that drives downs prices and keeps products from stagnating), but I have to question just how representative of the UK market these results can truly be. So, with that in mind, I'll go out on a limb and predict that, 12 months from now, the exciting shake-up of the UK smartphone market, as promised by this report, will not have come to pass.

In the meantime, I wonder how many publishers and broadcasters will run with the results of this survey, citing it as ‘evidence’ the iPhone has had its day?

What was the big news that happened in your sector in Q3? Catch up with GigaOM Pro's, "Quarterly Wrap-ups."

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Video Walkthrough: Getting Serious With Quick Search Box

I was playing around with Google Quick Search Box recently and was really surprised by all the functionality it provides. Once I got it fully set up with plugins and services, I realized it can give me just about everything I used to rely on Quicksilver for.

Quicksilver has really become the default interface for my Mac, so I’ve been wary about losing options by switching to something more stable and future proofed, but after seeing what QSB has to offer, I’m sold.

Plugins

While QSB seems to be focused on searching for things locally and online, its plugin options give it the opportunity to extend its reach far beyond searching. Already there are plugins available for running Shell and AppleScripts, browsing your Delicious bookmarks, and accessing services, with lots more on the way.

Demo Time

I thought it might be fun to show you some of these features in action so I threw together a quick little screencast.

While I’d like to see some better integration of custom services (I can’t seem to get my homemade services to show up as action items within QSB — perhaps I’m just doing it wrong), I remain really optimistic about where this is all going. With the future development of Quicksilver up in the air, and with a ton of functionality already available with QSB, I think now is the time to make the switch.

If you have your own favorite plugin or service or additional tips for getting serious with QSB, please share them in the comments.

In Q3, NewNet focus turns to business models and search. Read the, "NewNet Q3 Wrap-up."

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Windows 7 No Threat to Mac: Report
From Computerworld, the ponderings of Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall may state the obvious, but nonetheless bear repeating: Windows 7 is no threat to the Mac.

Having looked at the data on Windows release dates, Marshall “found no negative correlation between them and Mac sales.” Further, Marshall suggests that “new OS launches from MSFT may have even acted as a ‘delayed accelerant’ to AAPL’s computing sales.” However, he is also careful to add that “AAPL’s success (or failure) in the computing market is largely idiosyncratic (or company-specific) in nature and not dependent on others in the industry.” Just like a six-figure analyst to have it both ways, but he does have a point, at least about Apple.

While it’s true that the numbers don’t lie, they don’t tell the whole story in this case, either. Not shown on the chart is how the release of Windows 95 was an unmitigated disaster for then-Apple Computer. The company saw Mac market share effectively halved from 1995 to 1996, from around double digits to 5 percent in a year, and it only got worse.

That bump in sales in 1997 was due to the original iMac, as was a good deal of the spike that ran until 2001. And 2001, of course, brought the tech bust, not a worldwide embrace of Windows Millennium Edition at the expense of Apple. While Mac sales were stagnant over the next several years, even as PC sales grew, the basis of the Mac Renaissance we now enjoy can be traced to a few key events.
- Beginning in 2002, the continuous, incremental improvement in Mac OS X combined with the perceived security disaster of Windows XP changed attitudes about Microsoft and Apple.
- The iPod Halo Effect, the idea that the popularity of the iPod encouraged the Mac “curious” to switch, probably started in late 2003 with the iTunes Store and iTunes for Windows.
- The switch to Intel in 2006, along with the “safety net” of Apple’s Boot Camp or third-party virtualization, removed the last perceived obstacle to owning a Mac.
So, the iMac, the iPod and the iTunes Store, OS X, Intel Macs, and now the iPhone; all these “idiosyncratic” products are what have fueled Apple’s comeback, though it’s also fair to say Microsoft’s lack of innovation played a small part in that comeback, too. Looking forward to 2010, it appears that trend will continue. Windows 7 does nothing more than replace lackluster Vista, Microsoft’s mobile strategy is a disaster, and how about a tablet PC with a stylus in the age of multitouch?

Really, the game is Apple’s to lose.
In Q3, NewNet focus turns to business models and search. Read the, "NewNet Q3 Wrap-up."

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Snow Leopard Bug Deletes All Data, Apple Enters Data Loss Competition With Microsoft

The intertubes are ablaze today with reports of a serious bug in Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard that, under certain conditions, can destroy all of a user's personal data.

The problem lies with Mac OS X's Guest Account functionality, and was first reported at the beginning of September on Apple's Support Discussions forum. Specifically, some Mac owners have found that after using the Guest account, and later logging-in to their usual primary account, all their personal data has been wiped clean. Everything. Documents, pictures, movies, music. The whole lot.

More worryingly, some users report that they didn't even use their Guest account first — simply booting up their Mac normally resulted in an "out of the box" experience — default wallpaper, dock configuration and, again, a loss of all personal data.

It seems just about every technology or Apple-focused website is reporting the issue this morning. At a time when Microsoft is suffering the humiliation of having permanently lost customer's data, Apple is in similar hot water. It's not a competition, boys!

From what the user community has managed to figure out, the bug occurs only in Mac OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard) with a Guest Account that was created in Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard). After upgrading to Snow Leopard, the Guest Account settings retain Leopard’s older spots, to coin a phrase. And there the problem lies.

Thankfully, and in a break from its usual behavior (that is, stubborn refusal to admit anything is wrong with their products) Apple yesterday delivered a statement to CNET that reads, "We are aware of the issue which occurs only in extremely rare cases and we are working on a fix." OK, a few plus-points for finally admitting there's a problem. Minus a few points for it taking over a month to do so. (Seriously, do we really think it took Apple this long to reproduce the problem? No. Of course not.) And minus a few hundred more for Apple not putting that crucial statement on its own support pages, which I would modestly suggest is vastly more professional and helpful to Mac owners who aren't CNET or tech-press readers. But oh well — at least we got something.

Thankfully there are some steps everyone can take to minimize the risks of falling foul to this hugely worrying bug.

First off, have a recent and complete Time Machine backup of your personal account and all your data (but think twice if you're using a Time Capsule that's a little more than 17 months old).

Next, if the Guest Account was enabled before you upgraded to Snow Leopard, pop in to your System Preferences and disable it. To do so, follow the steps below.

In System Preferences, choose Accounts

Click the padlock icon to make changes - you may be prompted for your password

The icon will now indicate you can make changes

Click on the Guest Account icon

Un-check the box labeled "Allow guests to log in to this computer"

That’s it. Close System Preferences and restart your computer. When you next log in, you can choose whether or not you want to re-enable the Guest Account. Doing so after following these steps ought to be safe, since the Guest Account will be recreated with all-new Snow Leopard settings which, it's assumed, won’t delete all your valuable personal data. But please note carefully — this is a community-generated 'fix' and not officially recommended or endorsed by Apple. It might work. It might not. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Anecdotal Evidence Alert: I had my Guest account disabled on all my machines prior to upgrading to SL. In an heroic act of self sacrifice I've courageously enabled the Guest account on all of my Macs, then logged back in to my usual personal account. I haven't lost a thing. Hardly a scientific test of the theory this problem occurs only with 10.5/Leopard flavoured Guest accounts, but encouraging, nonetheless.

Have you been hit by this bug? Can you offer a more technically sound workaround? Please share in the comments below.

In Q3, NewNet focus turns to business models and search. Read the, "NewNet Q3 Wrap-up."

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