Fresh Apple: GigaOMApple (5 сообщений)

rss2email.ru

Записки опытного ЖЖ-шника о SEO

Советы Блогеру. Конкурсы с призами

GigaOMApple

http://gigaom.com
рекомендовать друзьям >>

How Tied to Apple Is Your Sense of Self?
Among my friends and family, I am The Apple Guy. More so even than those who work as professional film and television editors, and do things with Macs I could only hope to lamely emulate in lowly iMovie. So how did a brand whose products I use become so inextricably tied up in who I am as a person, and what are the consequences of that link?

It’s no coincidence that I’m thinking about this the week following Macworld, arguably one of the Apple faithful’s most important annual pilgrimages. While I’ve yet to go myself, both Weldon and Dave are regular attendees who speak about the event with something approaching reverence. Even now that Apple no longer graces the Macworld floor with its presence (arguably limiting the show’s newsworthiness), early estimates put show attendance for 2011 at as much as 25,000. It’s hard to imagine a similar turnout at, say, an HP-focused convention where HP wasn’t in attendance.

Macworld isn’t the only recent development that sparked this introspection. CNET today has a great interview with Mike Daisey, a devoted Apple fan and theatre geek who actually visited Foxconn facilities in Shenzhen, China to see where the products he loves are made. Daisey has just started a one-man show called “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs,” in which he compares his choice of operating system to a religious choice. And if you’ve seen the ardent defense mounted by Apple apologists (myself sometimes included) when their brand is besmirched, you have to admit the comparison is apt.

For me, Apple is so closely tied up in who I am partly because its products seemed to make my life so much easier once I switched from Windows-based devices, and partly because evangelizing the adoption of Macs and iDevices among my friends has left me feeling that I have a personal stake in the reputation of the company behind them. If Apple’s image suffers, so too does my own. After all, what happens to The Apple Guy when everyone’s using Android devices?

Apple is also a company that makes products designed to breed loyalty. After half a year with an iPad, I recently tried switching to a Galaxy Tab, which is a fine device by most accounts, including those of my colleagues. As Kevin noted, I returned my Tab soon after purchase, citing the somewhat ambiguous complaint that I found myself wishing it was an iPad. If I had to articulate, I’d say that feeling stemmed from relatively insignificant isolated user experience differences that, taken together, I was unwilling to learn to overcome after years of getting to know and love iOS.

Motorola just introduced a new promotional spot for its Android-powered Xoom tablet in time for the Superbowl. In it, the company obliquely compares Apple to Big Brother in George Orwell’s 1984, which ironically takes a page out of Apple’s own playbook. Granted, it’s a hyperbolic comparison, but isn’t my knee-jerk urge to call it baseless, ridiculous and uniformed before I’d even seen it at least somewhat indicative that it isn’t totally off the mark?

As a journalist, I’m able to put aside my fandom and think critically about the decisions of Apple and its competitors. But as a user and consumer, it’s much harder to separate myself from the products I use and live with every day. But is that something to be worried about, or just a testament to the quality of the products Apple creates?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
Samsung Tab Ships Big, But Apple's iPad Sells

A week after launch, Samsung, maker of the Galaxy Tab, announced more than 600,000 units had been sold. In early December, that number climbed to more than a million, and in January, reached two million. In comparison, the iPad sold 3.2 million units in its first quarter, and 7.3 million during the holiday quarter. While still out in front, it appeared the first major Android tablet was seriously impacting iPad market share.

Today, Strategy Analytics crunched the numbers and came to the same conclusion. According to Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, “Android tablet volumes experienced 2000 percent sequential growth and its global marketshare soared to a record 22 percent in Q4 2010.” The Samsung Galaxy Tab was largely responsible for that market share success, which also saw the iPad fall from 95 to 75 percent market share.

Unfortunately for Samsung, that’s not what really happened.

The Wall Street Journal reports on what appears to be the willful conflation of tablets shipped with tablets sold as reported by Samsung. Pressed by analysts at a conference call on Friday, Samsung executive Lee Young-hee was forced to admit the actual number of Galaxy Tabs sold to consumers was “quite small,” the larger reported numbers actually representing units shipped to points of sale like carriers. No number of actual Tabs sold was provided, though Lee admitted that sales were not “as fast as we expected,” but still “OK,” and that Samsung was “quite optimistic” about sales in 2011. However, Lee refused to offer any projections or solid figures.

News of the Tab’s limited success doesn’t mean Apple is in the clear. The Motorola Xoom will be the first Android tablet to run Google’s tablet optimized version of the OS, dubbed Honeycomb, and will be launched this quarter. Also launched this quarter will be the BlackBerry PlayBook running QNX. HP, which has an event scheduled next week, is also expected to announce 7-inch and 10-inch tablets running webOS, possibly for sale this quarter. Of course, the iPad 2 is widely expected to be unveiled in the spring, too.

It appears that 2011 will indeed be the year of the tablet, but with the revelation of the Galaxy Tab’s slow start, and in light of Apple’s strong kick-off to its 2011 financial year, it’s still starting out as the year of the iPad.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
All Eyes Were on iPad at This Year's Macworld
Macworld Expo 2011 has drawn to a close and, despite its name, this year the show had little to do with the Mac. This year’s theme was instead best described as “iPad everywhere,” and gave a great glimpse into the future of the supporting players in the Apple ecosystem.

While travelling the show floor, I was awestruck by the number and variety of iPad accessories. There were a few standard silicone and silkscreened cases from usual suspects Gelaskins and Musicskins, or the Subcostume that let you design your own case based on images of your choosing. And it was no surprise to see large industry players such as Monster and Sennheiser were showing off their latest headphones. However, the primary focus of the show was more about making the iPad part of your daily lifestyle.

Some vendors like Revena, Modulr and Vogel’s created a “system” by which you can easily mount your iPad on your desk, in your car, or on your wall without having to make any modifications to your iPad. The PadBracket was a straightforward bracket to safely hold your iPad in every room in the house as your move from place to place. Other vendors offered more specialized iPad environmental solutions like turning the iPad into a kiosk with Launchpad or using the iPad underwater or perhaps around the tub with DryCase.

Handstand, Us+U and Sleeve360 make devices that give you the ability to carry around your iPad like you would a portfolio so you can both easily work on it and quickly “spin” the iPad to show others. I really saw the value in these because, while I often will show people something on my iPad, I’m not too keen on letting the expensive device out of my hands. More than once my iPad has been dropped during that transfer. Fortunately I have the Otterbox (who was also at the show) Defender case for it, so drops usually don’t result in damage.

For the truly paranoid, you don’t even need to let your iPad leave your body as Alphyn had a pullover that allowed you to keep your iPad connected to you at all times. While it makes you look like something from the cyberpunk genre, the product has real practical applications in fields such as law enforcement. My favorite though was the ROKBed by Rokform (pictured above). This is an iPhone and iPad stand that is made out of aluminum gears and holds your iDevice in a multitude of positions. It just looks really cool sitting on your desk and will serve as a great conversation piece.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the darling of the show: the iGrill. The iGrill is a Bluetooth device that works with temperature probes to report back to your iPhone or iPad the status of dinner.

Vendors, of course realize that all this integrating your iPad into your daily life takes power, and lots of it. Kensington, Dexim, Boostcase, Hyperjuice, Technocel, and others all showed off their iPad and iPhone external battery solutions. I’ll be doing a few articles on these later.

The key takeaway from all these products is that more than a laptop or even an iPhone, people want to use the iPad everywhere they can. The iPad’s mix of power, usability, and downright fun accounts for its appeal in this regard.

While the iPad was everywhere, Mac solutions were barely noticeable. Companies like Adobe and Microsoft were absent this year, as Weldon noted earlier. Some specialized solutions for the music and enterprise communities were on display, but overall consumer-oriented solutions were few and far between on the show floor.

While Macworld may have very little to do with the Mac today, the show is still extremely important to the Apple community. Apple’s “curated” retail environment leaves out key products and accessories that for one reason or another, Apple doesn’t carry. Industry events like Macworld show there are great products out there that can really enhance and improve our overall user experience. What caught your eye at Macworld that’s missing from this list?

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
Your Macworld 2011 Questions Answered
Macworld 2011 last week raised a few important questions for the Mac community. These are the questions I was asked most frequently by Mac-loving friends who couldn’t attend this year and people on Twitter. You’ll notice that the effect of Apple’s continued absence at the show is a prevailing theme.

What was the show floor like?

The first thing that struck me when I walked into the Macworld 2011 show floor on Thursday was how small it seemed when compared to years past. The show is entirely contained on the three floors of Moscone West. It used to be spread across both Moscone North and South (much bigger halls) for the expo and conference, and Steve Jobs gave his keynote in Moscone West. The booths are generally smaller and more tightly packed, however, so where the floor felt a little loose last year, this year there’s a sense of closely wound frenzy.

Who was there?

There are a lot of exhibitors here, but more first-time exhibitors, and more iDevice accessory vendors. Some of the biggest names in Mac software are missing: Microsoft, Adobe, Filemaker. Stepping up to take the anchor role are Omni Group, Nuance, Dr. Bott, HyperMac, and Smart Tech. Still, it does feel like there’s a definite lack of Mac hardware and software at the show, which I suppose makes perfect sense in a world where Apple sold only 4 million Macs last quarter, but 7 million iPads, 16 million iPhones, and almost 20 million iPods.

What was there to see?

I was hoping to find the cool stuff on the expo floor, figure out what was new and shiny and worth sharing with you today, but I’m at a loss. An old friend ran into me their and asked what I thought was the best thing on the floor, and I struggled to answer. There doesn’t seem to be much new on the Mac side, or for iOS devices either. Certainly nothing that struck me as groundbreaking. There is still cool stuff, to be sure, and plenty to check out, but I think ultimately vendors are moving away from the idea that they need to come to the show with huge announcements.

What was the crowd like?

Vendors at the show do seem to be happy with the foot traffic, particularly in the morning. One large software vendor shared that it brought the same amount of printed materials as last year, and had gone through more than half of them in the first day. Another well-known software company shared that even though it didn’t bring product to the show this year, it sold more units through its online ordering at the booth this year than it did physical product at the show last year. So apparently people are still coming to the show floor, and are still interested in buying software for their Mac. That sort of customer presence and engagement portends well for the continuation of Macworld.

The Conference sessions seemed to be well-attended by Mac professionals, which is a good sign for the show because vendors are extremely interested in getting time to talk to these folks specifically.

Was it fun?

Absolutely! I’ve been going to Macworld, off and on, since 1986 or so. I love seeing what’s going on with the Mac community and I love meeting up with colleagues and vendors that have become friends over the years. The best part for me isn’t the technology itself, but the people.

Will it last?

It certainly seems premature to declare that the shrinking floor size portends the imminent death of Macworld Expo. It may be smaller, but it is still strong and very much alive. It certainly seems to me that Macworld 2012 will be a success if it matches the success of this year’s event.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать
Active Storage Announces Xsan Replacement
On the eve of Apple’s cancellation of the Xserve, Active Storage, makers of the ActiveRAID storage system, announced the ActiveSAN appliance to provide an upgrade path for Xsan users. ActiveSAN is a drop-in replacement for an Xserve metadata controller tuned for media and creative shops that can leverage their existing investment in Fibre Channel host bus adapters (HBA), switches, and storage arrays. The ActiveSAN appliance is built using Intel Nehalem hardware and utilizes Linux and the Quantum StorNext SAN file system. On top of this enterprise-grade platform, Active Storage has provided a management suite that provides the ease of use that Xsan users have come to expect from an Apple-centric solution.

The Fibre Channel storage environment was one of the primary markets for the Xserve. Mac OS X Server can provide filesharing, directory, DNS, email, calendar and other network services but many of those tasks are easily handled by a Mac mini. But Fibre Channel SANs are different because they require add-in Fibre Channel HBA cards that don’t fit in a Mac mini, but do work in an Xserve.

In an Xsan environment, all clients are connected to the Fibre Channel switch fabric and have direct block-level access to the filesystem on the storage array. For example, several video editors could directly access the same massive Final Cut project stored on a huge storage array using high-speed Fibre Channel connections. The Xserve metadata controller (MDC) acts as a traffic cop to make sure that two of those video editors do not try to modify the same file at the same time. The whole system is much faster than relying on Ethernet speeds on a network file server, but also much more expensive. Many media and creative shops have a huge investment in the storage arrays and the associated Fibre Channel infrastructure to connect them to their editing workstations. The death of the Xserve was unnerving because Xsan won’t work without a Mac-based MDC.

It’s possible to enlist a Mac Pro as an MDC, but the advantage of the Xserve was that it provided a convenient form factor that saved space in a rack loaded with storage arrays. The new ActiveSAN appliance can replace an Xserve MDC with the same rack mount form factor. Perhaps more important than the convenience of replacing the same 1U rack space, is that IT directors can now rest assured that their investment in the Xsan environment will not be lost even if the Xserve itself cannot be replaced.

The management suite includes the ActiveSAN appliances, the ActiveRAID storage array, and Innerpool metadata appliances which will provide a simple administrative utility that is meant to be accessible to creative professionals that sometimes provide their own IT support. Active Storage has a training program in place that will include online, self-paced education as well as instructor-led training at Active Storage facilities. Xsan consultants and instructors are also being enlisted to provide on-site training and installation for companies that select ActiveSAN.

While many will never need Fibre Channel storage, ActiveSAN is a great solution for those that have heavily invested in Xsan and want the confidence of being able to replace Xserve MDCs as needed.

Related content from GigaOM Pro (sub req'd):
Переслать