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Year-Old Document Answers Many of Sen. Franken's Questions
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) may be after answers from Steve Jobs, but this isn’t the first time lawmakers have been curious about Apple’s use of location information. Last year, Congressmen Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Joe Barton (R-Tex.) sent a letter to Jobs about similar issues and received a letter from Apple SVP and General Counsel Bruce Sewell. In the letter, Sewell provides answers to at least some of Franken’s new round of questions.

While Sewell doesn’t address the local, unencrypted storage of location information anywhere in his response to Markey and Barton, he does clearly outline Apple’s location data use policy and the methods the company uses to gather said data. So, at least partial answers to a good portion of Franken’s questions are already on record.

Sewell describes Apple’s reasoning behind collecting location data, which is “to enhance and improve the services we can offer to our customers,” and also with whom Apple shares the data. Those parties include only Apple’s application developer licensees (with whom Apple only shares the data once a user has given their explicit consent that it be allowed to do so), and Apple’s external mapping database partners, which are used for location services on older devices. Apple shares only “anonymous, non-identifying location information” with those partners in order to improve service.

Sen. Franken also asked about whether laptops collect location data. Sewell lists explicitly which devices collect location data, and the list includes “Mac computers running Snow Leopard and Windows or Mac computers running Safari 5.”

Sewell’s letter also explains how the data is generated and when. Wi-Fi access point, cell tower and GPS information are all used to determine location, and data from each is collected when apps approved to use said data are actively running. Anonymous data “may also be collected when an iPhone is using GPS to search for a cellular network,” writes Sewell.

As I mentioned, the letter does not address those questions Sen. Franken asked that specifically involve the local, unencrypted storage of location data. For instance, Franken asked “Why is this data not encrypted? What steps will Apple take to encrypt the data?” Apple also hasn’t specifically addressed the question of why consumers aren’t informed about local data storage, or asked for consent for that particular type of location information usage.

Turns out I was wrong when I wrote earlier that “there are no definite answers” to Franken’s questions. Just goes to show how quickly information can get lost or forgotten in the age of the Internet. You can read the letter from Sewell in full below.

View this document on Scribd

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Report: Apple Set to Beat Google to Cloud Music Service
Apple is ready to launch an online music storage service that will let iTunes customers stream their songs from a remote server wherever they have Internet access, according to a new report from Reuters . Several people familiar with the plans were cited as the news agency’s source for the report.

Like Amazon, which launched its own cloud music locker service in late March, Apple has yet to secure any new or additional licenses with record labels, but those labels are said to be in talks with Apple in the hopes of working out a new arrangement prior to the service launch, according to three of Reuters’ sources. Apple hasn’t revealed any firm dates to those partners, says the sources, but they also say it will launch ahead of Google’s own cloud music storage offering.

Apple could be using Amazon’s unlicensed push into cloud media storage as a negotiating tool to help expedite the launch of its own service. While Amazon has since begun holding talks with labels, possibly to sidestep threats of legal action from the music industry, it has set a precedent Apple could follow if labels are making demands the Mac-maker isn’t comfortable with.

Apple’s North Carolina data center is also set to go live this spring, according to past statements by company COO Tim Cook. That facility is likely to provide the infrastructure required to launch a remote music storage option for Apple’s many of iTunes customers.

Apple has yet to reveal anything regarding its plans for cloud-based music, but it acquired streaming music company Lala in 2009 and shuttered the company’s business in 2010, leading many to speculate it intended to use the company’s expertise to launch its own similar service. A streaming service that preserves Apple’s pay-per-track and album music sales strategy, but also makes that music available to any connected Mac or iOS device, makes sense as Apple faces growing competition from online subscription media service providers and the launch of similar options from competitors like Amazon.

It’s been a long time coming, but let’s hope these latest rumors prove true. With the growth of the App Store and the introduction of more advanced apps with larger file sizes, I’m really starting to feel the pinch of iOS device storage limitations. Keeping my music in the cloud would help considerably, though tiered data plans might make people think twice about taking full advantage.

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The Average iOS App Publisher Isn't Making Much Money
In the latest earnings call, Apple COO Tim Cook reiterated that the Mac-maker has paid out over $2 billion to developers. These transactions were the financial result of over 10 billion downloads of the more than 350,000 apps available in the App Store. While iTunes electronic sales have been steadily increasing, the logical assumption that it’s the app sales and not the music, movies, television and books being sold driving success. So how much of that app revenue is actually making its way to the average developer?

According to 148Apps.biz, there are approximately 370,000 iOS apps from 78,000 publishers with an average price of just $2.52 U.S. per app. While there may have been over 10 billion app downloads, that number spreads the $2 billion that Apple has paid to publishers over its three-year lifespan very thin. These numbers translate into an economy where there is just over $8,500 per publisher per year to go around. Keep in mind that a publisher may be just a single developer, or a whole team of analysts, developers, testers and managers.

Looking at the numbers in a slightly different manner, consider the recently published AdMob survey that indicates most smartphone and tablet owners are using their devices to play games. This breakdown is supported by the fact that 43 of the top 100 paid apps in the App Store are games. Assuming an exponential distribution of downloads, where the cheaper apps are being downloaded more often than the expensive ones, we can extrapolate how many downloads it would take to account for the $2 billion in payments to publishers.

By breaking out games from the rest of the apps in a 60/40 split of revenue (40 percent going to games), you can see why games in particular are more lucrative than other types of apps. What this analysis doesn’t take into consideration are the runaway success stories that would only skew the data even more. This analysis assumes an even distribution across all apps based solely on the textbook supply vs demand premise that cheaper apps sell larger volumes.

While the latest research from comScore may show how people are spending their money on new smartphones, it doesn’t show how people are spending their money on apps. According to this data, if the app market is to continue to thrive, alternate funding models that aren’t based on the sale of apps in the App Store will need to take shape.

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Infographic: Mac Users Are Liberal, Vegetarian, City-Dwellers
Hunch.com offers a great visual snapshot of Mac users and their PC counterparts over on the site’s blog Thursday. The personalized recommendation engine collected data from its users to paint a picture of the average Mac and PC person, and at least a good portion of the results are pretty much in keeping with prevailing stereotypes.

The infographic takes users who responded to the question “Are You a Mac Person or a PC Person?” and cross-references those responses with the answers from other questions taken from the question pool the site uses to inform its intelligent recommendations engine. Some key highlights:
- Mac users are more likely to be young liberals who live in cities
- Mac users are bigger partiers than PC users
- Mac users are more likely to see themselves as unique, but also to see others as alike
- PC users watch a lot of Leno, while Mac users like critical hits like Friday Night Lights
Here’s the full infographic (click for a larger version). Let us know how you feel about the results. Speaking for myself, they hit the nail on the head.

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Two Awesome iPad Games Get Small-Screen Releases
When the iPad first arrived, a lot of iPhone games got HD treatments to make the jump to the new platform. A little over a year later, and the opposite seems to be happening. Sword & Sworcery EP and Chicken Balls both arrived on the iPhone late Wednesday after originally premiering as iPad games.

Chicken Balls is a physics puzzler that’s pretty much a combination of Angry Birds and Peggle. The iPhone version brings the same gameplay I wrote about in my piece about Chicken Balls HD, with Game Center and OpenFeint support for stat and achievement tracking and leaderboards. I found the game to be just as fun on the smaller screen, although I do miss the extra real estate when I’m zoomed out as far as possible to take in the entire level. But at $0.99, it’s a great buy, especially if you’ve burned out on Angry Birds and Little Wings and are looking for something a little bit the same, but also very different.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP also gets the iPhone treatment. If you already purchased the iPad version when it was released, you’re in luck, because it becomes a universal app thanks to an update. iPhone-only gamers will be pleased to find that they can pick up a dedicated small-screen version of the app for $2.99, which is $2 cheaper than the price of the universal app. The game is an adventure title which mostly involves walking around and tapping on things, along with some combat thrown in. Despite its apparent simplicity, it’s actually an amazingly rich gaming experience with an attractive, original graphical flair and an amazing immersive soundtrack. I may be putting the cart before the horse here, but I think S&S EP will be up for at least a few indie and mobile game of the year awards. The iPhone version manages to preserve the cinematic quality of the iPad original, despite the smaller screen.

If you were curious about all the buzz these games were getting but couldn’t get in on the fun because you only have an iPhone or iPod touch and not an iPad, now’s your chance to check them out.

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Verizon CEO Says Next iPhone Will Be a "Global Device"
The next iPhone from Apple will be a “global device” according to comments made by Verizon CFO Fran Shammo during the carrier’s conference call to discuss its quarterly results. Shammo’s remarks indicated that Apple’s next iPhone will be a dual-mode phone capable of both GSM and CDMA connectivity. Currently, the iPhone 4 comes in two distinct flavors, one for each network protocol.

Shammo’s statement regarding the next iPhone came when he was asked about slow average revenue per unit growth during the quarter, which saw the introduction of the iPhone. His exact words, as per Barron’s :

The fluctuation, I believe, will come when a new device from Apple is launched, whenever that may be, and that we will be, on the first time, on equal footing with our competitors on a new phone hitting the market, which will also be a global device.

Currently, the iPhone 4 used on the Verizon network sports a Qualcomm world-mode chip that’s technically capable of doing dual-mode duty, but the device lacks a SIM card slot, and the antenna design used appears to be optimized for CDMA-only use. The iPad 2, likewise, uses the same chip but features different, network-specific antenna designs for both the CDMA and the GSM versions.

Aside from the “global device” mention, also note that Shammo is careful to say “whenever that may be” when talking about the next iPhone’s potential launch window. It’s funny that Shammo would be so careful to sidestep the sensitive topic of when the new iPhone will arrive (recent rumors suggest a September launch) but makes an arguably bigger blunder around the iPhone’s unannounced capabilities. Whenever it arrives, I hope it’s indeed a world phone, since that will make it much easier for all iPhone owners to use their devices abroad, and to resell the smartphone when the time comes to upgrade.

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Sen. Al Franken Wants Answers From Steve Jobs
Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wants to know why Apple’s iPhone collects and stores device location data in an unencrypted file. Franken penned a two-page letter (via Ars Technica) asking nine questions of Apple CEO Steve Jobs in response to yesterday’s news regarding the “consolidated.db” file.

As Bobbie reported earlier, the iPhone’s location data logging actually isn’t a new thing. Law enforcement has been using the data for quite a while, according to researcher Alex Levinson, who told GigaOM that the iPhone’s location tracking file isn’t new to iOS 4 (it just changed file locations) and it has been public knowledge in security circles for quite some time now.

That law enforcement knows how and where to access this info may provide partial answers to some of Sen. Franken’s questions. For example, he asks first “Why does Apple collect and compile this location data? Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?” Well, first we now know that this isn’t new to iOS 4 thanks to Levinson. And second, if legal authorities are making use of the data for forensic investigation purposes, isn’t it possible that might be one of the reasons behind its inclusion?

While it’s possible, I doubt actually Apple intended the location data log as a breadcrumb trail for use by the authorities, but the fact that it can be used in that capacity will no doubt be troubling to many, especially since the data is relatively easy to access without a court order, which is required when canvassing carriers for similar information.

Even though there’s no evidence to suggest that the location data is being transmitted to or used by any other party, including Apple itself, Franken clearly isn’t content to just let that assumption lie. Citing the fact that “[i]t is … entirely conceivable that malicious persons may create viruses to access this data from customers’ iPhones, iPads, and desktop and laptop computers,” he presses Jobs for more info about the nature and purpose behind the preservation of this sensitive information. Here’s the full list of all nine questions, in the order presented by Franken:
1. Why does Apple collect and compile this location data? Why did Apple choose to initiate tracking this data in its iOS 4 operating system?
2. Does Apple collect and compile this location data for laptops?
3. How is this data generated? (GPS, cell tower triangulation, Wi-Fi triangulation, etc.)
4. How frequently is a user’s location recorded? What triggers the creation of a record of someone’s location?
5. How precise is this location data? Can it track the user’s location to 50 m, 100 m, etc.?
6. Why is this data not encrypted? What steps will Apple take to encrypt the data?
7. Why were Apple consumers never affirmatively informed of the collection and retention of their location data in this manner? Why did Apple not seek affirmative consent before doing so?
8. Does Apple believe that this conduct is permissible under the terms of its privacy policy?
9. To whom, if anyone, including Apple, has this data been disclosed? When and why were these disclosures made?
Apple has yet to make any statement regarding the iPhone and iPad’s location tracking practice. And there are, as of yet, no definite answers to the questions above, beyond the one provided by Levinson regarding the file’s presence prior to iOS 4 mentioned above. I’m curious as to the answers, and I’m sure many others are, too.

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Apple Burned in Greenpeace Rankings Thanks to New Data Center
Apple came in at the bottom of a new report from Greenpeace (being presented at Green:Net Thursday) detailing the energy choices made by major IT companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook and more. The report, called “How dirty is your data?”, scores 10Internet companies on how reliant they are on fossil fuels to power their data centers. Apple fared so poorly mostly because of its brand new data center in coal-rich North Carolina.

According to the report, the new $1 billion dollar data facility that Apple has built and is expected to start using this spring, is one of the worst offenders in the world when it comes to power consumption, both in terms of sheer volume of power required, and in how clean that energy is. The facility will use as much as 100 MW of electricity when it opens, according to Greenpeace, which is the same as around 80,000 homes in the U.S., or 250,000 in the E.U. That energy comes from a grid that uses less than five percent clean energy, with the rest coming from dirty sources that Greenpeace sees as most ecologically harmful and dangerous, like coal and nuclear.

Apple data center choices led to it receiving the lowest clean energy index of all companies rated, with just a 6.7 percent rating. Yahoo topped the list with 55.9 percent clean energy, while Google and Amazon also ranked highly with 36.4 and 26.8 percent, respectively. Apple at least received a higher score in the categories of transparency and mitigation strategy, however, beating out other companies near the bottom like Facebook and Twitter.

Greenpeace acknowledges that in many ways cloud computing can save energy (like by replacing physical disc-based purchases with digital downloads, as Katie mentioned yesterday), but it also advises that focusing on efficiency runs the risk of ignoring the impact of clean vs. dirty energy, which is still a crucial component missing from the tech sector’s sustainability efforts.

Accounting for the energy impact of IT is tricky, as Greenpeace points out in its report, so making too much of these numbers at first blush probably isn’t advisable. Apple also actually hasn’t even started using its N.C. data center, so it’s entirely possible that the estimated energy picture Greenpeace used won’t accurately reflect the in-use figures. But the point is well made that cloud computing’s impact needs to be taken into account when we consider the footprint of tech companies, especially as it moves towards becoming the dominant computing model.

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For Verizon, iPhone Makes a Booming Debut
In about two months since the launch, Verizon has sold 2.2 million iPhones, giving Apple a big boost in the U.S., according to the New York-based phone company. Yesterday, AT&T, till recently the sole seller of the iPhone, announced that it had activated 3.6 million iPhones. The two companies in total now account for a big chunk of Apple’s sales. Apple said that it sold 18.65 million iPhones during the quarter ending March 31, 2011.

With AT&T’s network woes continuing, don’t be surprised to see more folks switching to Verizon, as their contracts come-up for renewal. Verizon is widely viewed as a company with the best wireless network in the US.

In addition to the iPhone, Verizon said that it activated more than 500,000 4G devices including 260,000 HTC Thunderbolts which were available for only two weeks during the quarter. Verizon, which now has 104 million customers, says that nearly 60 percent of its total phone sales were smartphones. Verizon saw its wireless data revenues jump to $5.5 billion.

Like AT&T, the total wireless service revenue for Verizon grew marginally from the previous quarter – $14.3 billion during the January to March time frame as opposed to $14.2 billion during the fourth quarter of 2010. However, from the year ago time frame Verizon had total service revenue of $13.5 billion– which means year over year the operator saw a 6 percent rise in revenue.

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Video: Real Racing 2 HD Now Does 1080p Output On iPad 2
Real Racing 2 HD previewed 1080p output from the iPad 2 back in March, but now the update is available and it is indeed as awesome as it looks, I can tell you from experience. The update provides a true two-screen experience across menus and in-game, and really shows what the iPad 2 is capable of in terms of becoming a force in living room gaming.

I won’t go into much detail describing how it works, instead check out the video below of me actually playing the game on my 40-inch Samsung LCD:

Watch this video for free on GigaOM

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Apple Conference Call: Don't Expect Another iPad in 2011
After today’s earning report for the second fiscal quarter, Apple’s conference call was something of a dénouement. In a relatively dry call without the presence of Steve Jobs, the main topic of interest was the iPad; the questions focused on supply problems, the answers avoided them. Despite selling just 4.69 million iPads during the quarter, definitely on the lower end of estimates, Apple executives were “thrilled” by the reception of the iPad 2, though admitted they were facing the “mother of all backlogs.”

When pressed as to why Apple wasn’t prepared to produce more iPad 2s for launch when during the holiday quarter Apple sold more than 7 million, the response was that product “transitions are never simple.” Nonetheless, Apple executives are proud of the “progress on production,” asserting that it was better than with the original iPad. To that end, the company plans on expanding the number of countries next week, and add more during the quarter. If that seems contradictory, well, it is, and no time frame was given on when supply and demand equilibrium would be reached, except that Apple executives are “confident we’ll produce a very large number” this quarter.

Those like myself thinking Apple might add another iPad model this year, perhaps even an iPad 3, can forget it. If the product transition is this difficult for the iPad, it’s nearly impossible to imagine Apple attempting another transition during the holiday quarter.

Besides the iPad, there were only a few points of interest during the call, including:
- Apple Retail will have its tenth anniversary and one billionth visitor next month, and, as has been the case for a while now, “about half” of people buying Macs in stores are new to the platform.
- On Steve Jobs, executives see him on a regular basis. He’s involved in major strategic decisions, and wants to be back as soon as he can.
- China now accounts for a tenth of Apple revenue.
- Demand for the MacBook Air remains strong, while consumer response to the new MacBook Pros has been “excellent,” and the Mac has outgrown the PC market for 20 straight quarters.
- iPhone growth is “off the charts” in two places, the U.S. and China, up 155 percent and 250 percent, respectively.
- Don’t expect an LTE iPhone anytime soon, as Apple is “not going to make” the kind of design compromises the first generation chipsets require.
- The iPod touch continues to account for more than half of iPod sales.
- On the recent patent lawsuit with Samsung, Samsung “crossed the line,” so Apple went to the courts after trying to resolve the issue.
Finally, when pressed on the analogy of the Android being like Windows PCs in the 90′s and the iPhone the Mac during the same period, Apple executives sidestepped. Citing the iOS platform as a whole, app counts, the value of and integrated versus “fragmented” platform, Apple executives “feel good about where we are.”

That answer was typical of the call, which was short on real information, but short on genuinely interesting questions, too. Nary a white iPhone or Apple TV question was heard, despite recent talk swirling around both. Hopefully, Steve Jobs will be back for some trash talking of the PlayBook come July.

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Apple Q2 2011: Macs and iPhone Up, Apple 'Also Sold' 4.69 Million iPads
Today, Apple reported earnings for the second fiscal quarter, including revenue of $24.67 billion and a net quarterly profit of $5.99 billion, or $6.40 earnings per share. Revenue nearly doubled from a year ago, blowing past Apple’s low-ball guidance of $22 billion, as well as Wall Street expectations of $23 billion and change. Although Apple CEO Steve Jobs remains on medical leave, he was rightly feeling pretty good about the numbers in the press release announcing the results:

With quarterly revenue growth of 83 percent and profit growth of 95 percent, we're firing on all cylinders. We will continue to innovate on all fronts throughout the remainder of the year.

However, there was nothing “magical” about the iPad, and the “also sold” in Apple’s press release really tells it all. Whether it’s constrained supplies or lack of interest, the number for iPads may result in recalculations of estimates of upward of 30 million iPads for 2011. However, the iPad is only one of four major product segments, and the news is much better for the Mac.

Mac sales increased 28 percent from last year, with 3.76 million sold, sharply contrasting with aggregate PC sales. Both IDC and Gartner have reported single-digit declines for PCs, and arguably those declines are at least partially attributable to the iPad. That cannibalization of traditional computer sales has not impacted the Mac. In fact, we are likely seeing the third-generation of ”halo effect,” where first the iPod, then the iPhone, and now the iPad increase Mac sales by affection.

As to which Macs are selling, the refreshed MacBook Pros, likely combined with continued strong sales of the MacBook Air, pushed laptop sales to new highs. Apple sold 2.75 million laptops, compared to 1.01 million desktops, with laptops accounting for 73 percent of Mac sales for the quarter. By the end of the calendar year, it’s likely three out of four Macs sold will be portables. The inexorable trend towards niche status for desktops continues.

Another inescapable conclusion seems to await the iPod: stagnation. Apple sold 9.01 million iPods in the quarter, compared to 10.89 million last year, down 17 percent. Overall, iPod sales have been down or flat since 2008, as the dedicated media player market reached saturation. However, even as overall sales went flat, the iPod touch continues to see growth. Apple has reported the iPod touch now accounts for about half of iPods sold, which is a big boost for the iOS platform.

Another boost to the iOS platform, the Verizon iPhone helped to propel sales to a new record of 18.65 million sold. That’s more than double the number sold for the same period last year, and also beats the previous record set during the holiday quarter of 2010. While we don’t know the exact number of Verizon iPhones sold yet, we do know AT&T sold 3.6 million. Expect Verizon iPhone sales to meet or exceed that.

As for the iPad, the best-case scenario is that supply constraints and damage to parts production from the earthquake in Japan impeded Apple’s ability to get devices into consumer hands, as Apple sold 4.69 million units for the quarter. That compares poorly to over 7 million units last quarter, which admittedly was the holiday quarter. However, that number barely exceeds the quarter prior to that, which was 4.18 million. Apple will need to do some explaining at the conference call on those iPad numbers.

Hopefully, that will be done by Steve Jobs. It’s hard to imagine Steve Jobs not showing up to trash talk the PlayBook at today’s conference call. Jobs was absent for the call in January, but made the iPad 2 event in March. Whether or not Steve Jobs is at the today’s call, TheAppleBlog will be providing highlights immediately following.

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Why the iPhone Makes Ditching Your Car a Lot Less Painful
A recent study found that real-time transit info accessible via mobile devices makes public transit a much more attractive option. It’s a finding I can personally vouch for, thanks to ample experience using my iPhone to help me get around my home city of Toronto. Mobile devices and apps can help drastically improve the appeal and usefulness of public and shared transit options, but only if companies and legislators take a cue from some of the good examples already out there.

Eliminating the Uncertainty

The study I mentioned above was conducted by research firm Latitude in Boston and San Francisco, and involved asking drivers in both cities to give up their cars for a week and then respond to survey questions about their experiences. The results of the study indicate that what makes switching from car ownership to public transit options more appealing is the easy availability of real-time information regarding transit services. Think about every time you’ve ever waited for a bus. Wouldn’t you be much more comfortable doing so if you knew exactly where it was and when it was scheduled to arrive?

In places where public transit is much more popular than in North America, like Western Europe and Japan, transit schedules tend to be more exact. In Japan, trains generally arrive on schedule to the minute, and if they don’t, you can even get a train conductor to issue you a note explaining your tardiness to work. Eliminating the uncertainty involved in public transit goes a long way to enabling a sense of control for transit users, making the entire experience more pleasant.

If we can’t mimic the efficiency of transit systems across the ocean here in North America, we can at least attack the problem from the other end and provide real-time information about when buses and trains will arrive, rather than when they’re supposed to.

A great (albeit city-specific) example of this idea in action is the Next TTC app for iPhone. It uses your device’s location services and data shared by the Toronto Transit Commission to tell you exactly when the next streetcar is arriving at the stop nearest you. A simple tap allows you to switch directions, and you can also favorite frequently used stops or manually select any stop of your choosing to see real-time streetcar info from around the city.

The developer notes that the TTC (which is publicly run) will be releasing the same info for bus routes in the near future, so that those stops can also be added to the app. Streetcars in Toronto are notoriously unpredictable (they share the road with cars on many routes) and I’d actually given up on using them out of frustration before the arrival of this app. Now I can check when the next four are due to arrive from the comfort of my apartment and plan accordingly, so I use them all the time.

Information and Control

Public transit is one option for shared transport, but car sharing services like Zipcar (which performed impressively during its IPO filing last week) is also a good way to escape car ownership, and also one that benefits from the growing popularity of smartphones and mobile data. The Zipcar app, for instance, offers iPhone users the ability to book, extend and cancel reservations, and to find available cars in their immediate area. You can even use the app to lock and unlock the car, and to honk the horn to make it easier to find. Zipcar is the biggest name in car sharing, and the smart, sophisticated and easy-to-use design of its iPhone app and the convenience that it brings no doubt played a role in its success.

Since I started using Zipcar earlier this year, I’ve used the iPhone app to make and change reservations almost exclusively. I actually opt to use the app even when I’m within easy reach of a desktop or laptop, simply because it makes doing so incredibly easy. Having the option to quickly book anytime, anywhere from my mobile means I’ve often gotten a car in situations when I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Without the app, I’m not sure I’d even get enough usage out of the service to justify renewing my membership next year. With the app, it’s become a service I can’t really see myself doing without.

Two more recent Zipcar competitors that use a peer-to-peer sharing model, Spride Share and RelayRides, don’t yet offer iPhone apps to help make the process simpler, but it’s something users of the services are asking for. Both CEOs will be at Green:Net tomorrow, and it’s a good bet that plans for mobile service offerings will come up for discussion.

More Than Maps

There are countless transit map applications out there, that tell you locations of subway stations and posted schedules and much more. These are useful, and no doubt alleviate some of the confusion that comes with using an unfamiliar transit system. But they are also mostly static, and don’t fully leverage the unique advantages available to smart, data-equipped mobile devices. As the examples mentioned above illustrate, there’s a tremendous opportunity with mobile apps when it comes to making shared transit a more attractive option to more people, but it will take targeted investment and intelligent coordination between government, the private sector and developers to make it happen.

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Apple Tracks and Logs iPhone and iPad Location Data in iOS 4
At the Where 2.0 location services conference Wednesday, Alasdair Allan and Pete Warden will be announcing the discovery that your iPhone or 3G-capable iPad has been regularly recording your device’s location since the introduction of iOS 4. The iOS devices store a list of the device’s location and time stamps for when the location information was gathered, and does it all using a file that can be easily read by just about anyone.

The file that does the tracking is called “consolidated.db,” which contains latitude and longitude coordinates attached to a timestamp. It’s not clear exactly what triggers your device to record a location, since the recording appears to vary considerably in terms of frequency. Allan and Warden suspect that the logging may be triggered by travelling between cell towers, which aid in location determination, or by activity on the phone, like using apps. It isn’t clear why Apple began storing this info in iOS 4, but Allan and Warden are convinced the effort is intentional.

Back in March, a German politician working with German newspaper Die Zeit sued Deutsche Telekom to get access to his own location data from his mobile phone, and put together a visualization of where he’d been for six months. Carriers do have this data, but it requires a court order to get it from them. Using the iOS 4 location tracking file (which is stored on any computer where you’ve synced your device) and a free, open source application developed by Allan and Warden, anyone can now do the same in about two minutes with virtually no technical expertise.

Allen and Warden warn that the info can be easily accessed on the device itself, in addition being in backups on computers you’ve synced with. Users who want to protect themselves can encrypt their backups through iTunes, but that doesn’t stop information on the device itself from being accessible. We’ve reached out to Apple about the issue and will let you know if they provide any additional info about how to ensure your data remains private.

As you can tell from the screenshot of my location data included in this article, I’m not particularly concerned about this data being out there, but I tend to lean towards the open and trusting end of the scale when it comes to information sharing. Then again, that probably makes me a prime candidate for things like Please Rob Me, and many others will likely not be so comfortable knowing their iPhone or iPad has a relatively accurate record of their whereabouts over the past year or so. Is this disturbing to you, or just a neat visualization trick you can show your friends?

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New Report Claims No New iPhone Until Fall
Already we’ve seen a flood of rumors claiming Apple won’t be releasing a new iPhone come June, and Wednesday, a new report from news agency Reuters backed up those existing suspicions, claiming a September ship date for new iPhones. As WWDC looms and these stories continue to accumulate, it’s beginning to look like fans looking for a new iPhone fix will have to wait a little longer than usual.

The Reuters report cites “three people familiar with the matter” as the source of the news, who wished to remain anonymous, because Apple’s plans regarding its smartphone are not yet public. The sources also suggested that the new iPhone would be largely similar to the iPhone 4, but with greater processing power. No other details about the phone itself or Apple’s release and announcement plans were shared.

This is likely the most credible report yet regarding the rumored iPhone release schedule change, and one that feels like it might be part of an intentional effort on Apple’s part to manage customer and investor expectations ahead of WWDC. Controlled leaks can be a good way to not only gauge the effect of product design decisions on consumer interest, but also to soften the blow of disappointing news. Were Apple to just go on stage at WWDC, talk about software and call it a night without any advance preparation or warning, it might drastically affect investor, analyst and consumer confidence in the company. If the news is something everyone expects by the time it actually happens, on the other hand, the effect won’t be nearly as severe.

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