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- FCC Opens Inquiry Regarding Google Voice App Rejection
According to the Wall Street Journal, the FCC is opening an inquiry into the Google Voice app rejection debacle.
In a statement Friday, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the FCC “has a mission to foster a competitive wireless marketplace, protect and empower consumers, and promote innovation and investment.” The inquiry letters “reflect the Commission’s proactive approach to getting the facts and data necessary to make the best policy decisions.”
Letters have been sent to Apple, Google, and AT&T looking for more information. TechCrunch has transcripts of the letters, which break the inquiry down roughly like this:
- Apple has been asked why they refused the Google Voice app, what role AT&T played in the refusal, and why other apps that integrate into Google Voice were pulled after their approval, and what other apps were refused for the iPhone?
- Google has been asked for the a description of the proposed app, what explanation (if any) they received from Apple on why it was rejected, what other Google applications have been approved or are pending, and are there other mechanisms by which an iPhone user will be able to access either some or all of the features of Google Voice? If so, please explain how and to what extent iPhone users can utilize Google Voice despite the fact that it is not available through Apple's App Store (emphasis mine; I find them phrasing the inquiry to reference jailbreaking interesting).
- AT&T has been asked what role they played in the rejection, did Apple consult with AT&T on the rejection, does AT&T know of other app store rejections, and is there anything in A&T’s terms of services that limit customer usage of third party apps?
I’ve ranted on my thoughts on how Apple is running the App store already, so I’m not going to cover it again. However, I’m applauding the FCC looking into this. Apple is handling App Store rejections similar to how myself and my childhood friends resolved differences when we played games: we changed the rules when we were losing and when called on it, we pouted. There’s no consistency to this. “Your app is approved, no wait it’s not, sorry. OK, we’re not sorry. Your bug fix is rejected even though the original app has been in the store for months. No, we’re not sorry about that, either. Your app allows unfiltered access to the Internet even though you can use Mobile Safari to find even more hardcore content.”
Riverturn, the developer of VoiceCentral — one of the Google Voice-integrated apps Apple approved and then unapproved — comments on his blog his experiences when he called Apple on their inconsistent rules and Apple just pouted. Developers need to know what the rules of rejection are before they start investing time and money into the process. It’s becoming apparent that even support from Phil Schiller himself isn’t a guarantee the app will be approved.
While I don’t think the FCC inquiry is going to directly affect whether Google Voice makes an appearance on the App Store, I hope Apple sees this as a warning shot across the bow and realizes people other than irate developers and users are paying attention. Apple needs to be more transparent about how approvals and rejections are handled. “If you don’t like it, tough,” isn’t an acceptable answer. If it takes the FCC to start a sea change, I’m all for it.
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Переслать - Final Draft 8 Review
If you've ever harbored the desire to write for the silver screen and tried to do something about it, you'll already know about Final Draft, the showbiz industry's favorite scriptwriting software.
Everyone in Hollywood uses it; Studio Execs, beleaguered Producers, hot-shot directors… even Michael Bay uses it, but don't let that last one put you off. If you use Final Draft, you'll be in the company of James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro and Richard Donner. JJ Abrams is quoted saying, "Even if you don't own a computer, I recommend buying Final Draft."
The company behind Final Draft — also called Final Draft — has crammed an impressive array of tools and functionality into version eight. In fact, there's so much functionality that for novice users it can seem daunting getting to grips with it.
The good news is that it's really quite easy to get started with Final Draft, particularly if you have some idea of how movie or TV scripts are constructed. And even if you don't, Final Draft makes the learning process so smooth it's really just part of your work flow. The software keeps your work in order, properly formatted, properly structured, yet never gets "in the way."
There is a mountain of goodness packed into this release. So much, in fact, it's beyond the scope of this review, but here's a quick rundown of the highlights.
Templates
If you're unsure of how to structure your script, you can use one of over 50 television and movie templates bundled with the application. There are dozens more available on the Final Draft website, too, though the assumption is that you are a naughty software thief so you must provide a valid customer number before you can download them.
Templates come in many of flavors, including movie scripts...
...TV shows...
...Graphic Novels...
...and even good old fashioned manuscripts.
Smart Element Formatting
The single greatest feature in Final Draft is its intelligent and intuitive element formatting. The software watches what you type and anticipates what you are doing next. With only the tiniest bit of learning, you'll find yourself zooming through scripts faster than Stephen King can knock-out novels.
Smart Elements pop-up works a lot like IntelliType
Speech
Final Draft lets you assign the Mac OS X system voices to the characters in your script, and have them read-aloud. Ask any writer — there is enormous value in hearing another voice read your dialogue back at you!
Choose which character gets which voice...
...then hit play!
Scene Tools
Brand new Scene Navigator and Scene View tools provide handy ways to view, structure and manage your script without scrolling through a hundred or so pages every time you need to check scene order, or remind yourself exactly when it was your characters fell into that trash compacter… Was it before or after your hero blasted the controls to extend the bridge?
File Format
A new file XML-based file format improves compatibility with modern productivity software and other script-writing tools.
And more…
Also packed-in to version eight is improved page formatting and counting, workspace management, powerful production features for preparing a finished script for distribution or revision, a neat new toolbar and an apology from Final Draft for selling a copy to Michael Bay. (OK, that last one is a lie. But if you've cringed at the dialogue in Tranformers, you know that man owes us all. Big time.)
Just as a professional graphic artist can't get far without learning Photoshop, anyone who's serious about screenwriting should have a copy of Final Draft.
Переслать - Free-trade vs. Fair-trade iPod
Umair Haque, writing for Harvard Business Publishing, posits what Apple’s iPods would cost if they were made in the U.S., and it turns out it’s not as much as you might think.
According to Haque, “an American made iPod Classic costs just 23 percent more than a Chinese made iPod Classic: $58 more, to be precise.” That is surprising, and in light of Apple’s perennial troubles with manufacturers in Asia, worth thinking about further.
Claims of “iPod sweatshops” have been around for years, with some of the more damning accusations likening manufacturing facilities with worker dormitories to prison barracks. At best, the pay is low and workload high. More recently, Apple manufacturing contractor Foxconn came under scrutiny regarding the apparent suicide of a worker over an iPhone missing from a sample shipment. Since then, both Apple and Foxconn have expressed regret for the death, with Foxconn compensating the family of Sun Danyong. However, beyond that compensation, it’s unlikely anything will change in labor practices abroad.
That’s where Umir Haque’s thought experiment for building a “good” iPod in the U.S. comes in. The estimated costs of labor in the U.S. and China are $24.59 and $1.47 per hour. The estimated amount of labor required for final assembly is 2.7 hours, creating a difference in manufacturing cost of $58.19. Using that number, Haque extrapolated the costs for iPod categories. I took that a step further, listing every model of iPod and iPhone, iPhone cost being the subsidized price.
Obviously, the lower the price, the greater the differential. The shuffle would likely be hurt the most in the eyes of the consumer. That’s who the chart is really for, in my opinion. It’s a rhetorical question concerning whether you would pay more for an iPod or iPhone built with a living wage, as there is no chance Apple is going to move its manufacturing to the U.S. This isn’t to say Apple is bad. After the death of Sun Danyong, the company reiterated its stance that suppliers “treat all workers with dignity and respect,” and the company has broken no laws, least of all the Iron Law of Wages.
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Переслать - Weekly App Store Picks: Aug. 1, 2009
The weekend has arrived, bringing with it the opportunity to reach that perfect state of iPhone-related relaxation: open the App Store and get ready to download the latest recommendations.
Before we get to the weekly picks, it’s time to take our usual look back at Apple news for the past seven days.
First up, more odd goings on with Apple’s utterly inconsistent App Store approvals process. This time round, Apple has chosen to banish Google Voice from the App Store. This means apps that allow users to access the Google Voice service, such as GV Mobile and Voice Central, have been disconnected from iTunes. An incredibly disappointing decision on Apple’s part.
It seems that some over-enthusiastic Chinese peripheral manufacturers have produced cases for Apple’s unannounced forthcoming Nano and iPod touch updates. As expected, we’re going to be seeing a camera-integrated touch and a Nano with a wider screen and smaller wheel. And let’s not forget the usual weekly rumor about Apple’s tablet too.
Staying in China for a moment — Chinese Apple fans have cause to celebrate this week as China is finally getting an official release for the iPhone. The device will be released via China Unicom, a carrier with over 135 million subscribers.
Our own David Appleyard posted a truly wonderful tutorial for those interested in customizing their Macs. David introduces BootXChanger, an application that allows you to change the default OS X Boot Icon. It’s an incredibly simple and potentially visually-yummy hack. So simple in fact that I’m considering replacing my Apple boot logo with Katamari Damacy.
From an unexpected corner of the portable media player galaxy comes news of the Zii Egg. The device, a handheld StemCell Computer running Android, is being touted as a serious competitor to the iPhone and iPod touch. It looks gorgeous and the specs are certainly up to par, however it’s worth remembering that it’s the content — namely the apps — that makes a device, not the hardware.
And finally, in its ongoing battle with the iPhone jailbreaking community, Apple has announced that jailbreaking could disable transmission towers. I’d have to side with Darrell that this sounds much like sensationalist scare tactics.
Moving on to the picks, this week I’ve been looking at Ghostly Discovery, Let It Sleep, The Secret of Monkey Island and Space Invaders Infinity Gene.
Ghostly Discovery (Free)
Ghostly International, electronic record label extraordinaire, just keeps pushing it forwards, signing Internet-electronica superstar Tycho, releasing a compilation album with Adult Swim as a free download and now creating their own music streaming app. The app allows you to decide what kind of music you hear (all of which is from Ghostly’s catalogue), based on your mood or how digital/organic you’d like the tracks to be. Best of all, this gorgeous-looking streaming music box is absolutely free — for folk who like their ambient synths, glitches and bleeps and other electronic noises, this is an absolutely essential download.Let It Sleep (99 cents)
Occasionally an app comes along that’s a bit of an oddity, and Let It Sleep falls in to this category. It’s not genuinely useful, but it is functional in a charming kind of way. Wrapped in John Lennon-inspired artwork (a reference to Let It Be), the app allows you to record your nocturnal noises. Using the iPhone’s mic, the app will start recording if you trigger the sound sensor. It’s very sweet and, for only a buck, certainly worth downloading. Especially worthwhile if you’re curious as to what goes on at night while you’re sleeping.The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition ($7.99)
A classic of the point ‘n’ click graphic adventure genre, Monkey Island is fondly remembered by many for its painfully obscure puzzles, wit-infused sword play and laugh out loud script. Sure it was horrendously difficult for most kids (and many adults too), but it was all about the journey: becoming Guybrush Threepwood, grogging it up with pirates and locating Monkey Island. Now the original game has arrived on iPhone complete with the same bizarre puzzles. The control scheme is disappointing, given the potential for re-designing the interface around the iPhone, but it’s still the same classic adventure.Space Invaders Infinity Gene ($4.99)
Another classic video game in this week’s App Store picks, except this one has been totally re-imagined and re-equipped for the iPhone. This isn’t your daddy’s Space Invaders as Infinity Gene packs in gorgeous vectorized graphics and an armory of fresh weaponry too. The game stays true to its roots though. It’s still 2D, the invaders are still as iconic as ever, but now the gameplay and visuals evolve as you advance. Japanese game shop Taito have built something special here, capturing the essence of the retro shooter while blending it with modern gameplay conventions.That’s all the picks for this week. I’ll be back in seven days with more news from the week and picks from the App Store.
In the meantime, what apps have you been using this week?
Переслать - China iPhone Images Hit the Web
The unofficially official iPhone for China moved a little closer to being real…or at least some nicely faked images were made real and posted at Sina.com.cn.
Of course, lending credibility to the pictures, they were later pulled and replaced with a less revealing one. The iPhone is supposedly set to debut around September on China Unicom’s network, the second-largest operator in China.
One image shows the iPhone syncing. Note the iPhone is on China Unicom’s 3G network, and will never be on a Wi-Fi network. That was a main sticking point in negotiations. Along with that previously reported news, there are a few more details from Macworld.
The iPhone is supposedly a WCDMA model. It bears the seal of approval of Chinese environmental regulators for a period of ten years. Other rumors floating around suggest Apple will be paid around $440 for each phone, though selling price will be less. Supposedly, China Unicom has a multi-year deal and has guaranteed a minimum of one million units sold per year. However, it should be noted that officially Apple and China Unicom are still in talks. Still, it’s hard to disbelieve one’s eyes.
Переслать - Thanks to TheAppleBlog Sponsors!
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Переслать - iPhone OS 3.0.1 Released, Fixes SMS Exploit
Days after the SMS vulnerability was reported, in which a single character could be used to crash or even take over an iPhone, Apple has released a single-purpose update.
The Knowledgebase Article makes it sound as potentially bad as it is.
Impact: Receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue exists in the decoding of SMS messages. Receiving a maliciously crafted SMS message may lead to an unexpected service interruption or arbitrary code execution. This update addresses the issue through improved error handling. Credit to Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators, and Collin Mulliner of Fraunhofer SIT for reporting this issue.
All iPhones were vulnerable to attack, regardless of OS version. The only defense from having your personality rewritten or being possessed by a ghost was to shut the phone off, which was hardly practicable. While it’s always nice to see Apple give credit to the those who discover an exploit, it’s unfortunate it took the researchers going public to get the company to move on this issue.
Переслать - ASA Agrees With Apple for Once
"There's an app for just about anything…only on the iPhone." Words we're all accustomed to hearing at the end of Apple's iPhone commercials. Here in the UK, those words got Apple into hot water (again) with the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA), who have slapped Apple's wrists twice before for 'misleading' commercials. (Watch the ad here.)
The problem this time was from fans of Google Android who took offense to the claim that such app-tastic diversity and choice is available "only" on the iPhone. Because, obviously, Google's version of the App Store, "Android Market" is just bursting with choice, right?
TUAW's Mel Martin reports Apple responded to the complaint explaining their claim "only on the iPhone" was based on the understanding the App Store, “provided users with a unique experience unmatched by any other application marketplace, including the Android Market”.
According to Martin, the App Store currently offers 50,000 applications, compared with only 2,100 on the Android Market.
The ASA ruled in favor of Apple, concluding, “Because Apple had shown there were far more applications available for the iPhone than the G1 phone, and user experience of the iPhone and the App Store was distinct from its competitor, we concluded that the claim ‘only on the iPhone’ was justified and not misleading."
Переслать - App Developer Diary Part 4: The Hidden Cost of iPhone Apps
Going behind-the-scenes of a real iPhone app’s development, the latest installment takes a candid look at the economics of the App Store.
In my previous entry for the App Developer Diary, I was lost behind a mountain of paper-work. Since then, the rapidly growing mountain of tasks hasn’t changed too much — I’m still working on the game design document and concept artwork, but an array of new tasks have also joined the list.
The game I’m developing with Pear Computers is being created in our spare time. As such, we’re not keeping any records as to how long we’re spending on a given task. We’re working evenings and weekends, any random available hour, to push the project forward.
Although some smaller developers may work in this manner, this isn’t the way it would work at a big studio. A larger studio needs to know how much money they’re investing in an app’s development, ensuring that they’re staying on-budget and able to accurately calculate how much profit will be generated.
As we’re not keeping any official record, without running through e-mails and diary entries, we’re unable to accurately quantify the cost of development. So instead of generating a hasty approximation for the benefit of this diary’s readers, I spoke to Mills, founder of mobile content studio UsTwo, to tell me about the hidden costs of developing for iPhone.
Stepping Back
Founded in 2004, UsTwo specialize in mobile content development, their current largest client is Apple-competitor Sony Ericsson. Having grown to an impressive 43 staff, made up of designers, animators and coders, the London-based team are also opening studios in San Diego and Mälmo, Sweden.
When the App Store opened last Summer, Mills decided to experiment with developing for iPhone. “We do so much work for clients but, more importantly, we wanted to create our own apps. We’re a design-led company, the iPhone is a really exciting device and so we decided that UsTwo is the perfect space to do create apps.”
Released in February this year, UsTwo’s first project was Steppin, a tap ‘n’ drag game that tests the player’s digit dexterity. Looking back, Mills describes the project bluntly as, “how not to develop a game.” He explained that Steppin’s development cost an estimated $50,000, with it only generating around $1600 in profit.
The extraordinary development costs were really due to UsTwo’s drive to experiment and test different gameplay concepts. Mills explains, “We kept experimenting, trying to get it perfect. Rather than prototyping in Flash first, we went straight to iPhone and kept changing it as we went. Nowadays we’d never develop like that.”
Mouthing Off About Costs
With the studio’s next app, MouthOff, Mills felt that UsTwo had learned from their previous mistakes. “Before we began development, we looked at the apps that were doing well, like the fart apps, and decided to make something quickly with minimal effort and cost. It’s only made around £11,000, but it probably broke even. Development cost a tiny amount, however we spent time promoting it and have rolled out updates too.”
Despite MouthOff breaking even, Mills believes the real value for UsTwo is in the contacts the studio has made and the exposure they gained in promoting the app. MouthOff was even used in a video for Tanya Morgan. In a surprisingly candid move, Mills shared the sales figures and stats for MouthOff with me. Sales for MouthOff are revealed as averaging out at around 50 per day, the vast majority of which come from the U.S. and Great Britain.
Although he knows it could have been even more popular, Mills is happy with the general response to MouthOff, “In some ways it was a massive success and in other ways it wasn’t nearly as successful as it could have been. We made lots of contacts though and we’ve been approached by new clients too.”
Looking forward though, it’s clear that UsTwo has its eye on the App Store’s future. “The next wave in the App Store has to be coming soon,” Mills explains. He believes that, as there’s an over-saturation of duplicated app concepts, it won’t be long until people run out of novelty ideas. Hinting at the future, it’s clear that Mills sees UsTwo as a part of the next wave, “We’re in talks with a fair number of clients, discussing some interesting and genuinely useful apps.”
Only a few weeks in to developing an app for iPhone, it’s clear to me that this could be a potentially costly undertaking. Mills, with his straight-talking and utterly candid approach to development costs, gave me a serious reality-check. As a team, we need to take on UsTwo’s approach — building gorgeous, fun apps while keeping one eye on the books.
Next time: I wrestle with Apple’s Developer Center and try to test out the first playable prototype of our game concept.
Переслать - NetNewsWire 3.2 Beta: Google Reader Replaces NewsGator
The folks over at NewsGator have seemingly given up on consumer news feed syncing and have ceded to the superiority of Google Reader.
First it was NewsGator’s Windows syncing feed reader Feed Demon that got the switch from NewsGator syncing to Google Reader syncing. Now its the Mac client’s turn and the esteemed reader NetNewsWire has now switched syncing services too. Yeterday’s announcement by NewsGator states that its will be taking its NewsGator Online news feed reading and syncing service offline by the end of August. This leaves little time for NetNewsWire to fast track a stable switch to Google Reader syncing, but yesterday the first public beta of NetNewsWire 3.2 was made available.
There are a few differences between how NewsGator and Google Reader do their syncing. Notably Google Reader does not support folders within folders, which poses a problem for people who have organized their feeds in such a way. ‘Flagged’ items in NetNewsWire get transplanted as ‘Starred’ items in Google Reader, but the ’shared’ and ‘liked’ features are not supported yet.
Beyond the big change of where feeds are synced to, the new version supports sending articles to InstaPaper, sports a fancy new icon and has had a general code cleanup to boot. Being able to sync to NewsGator is not even an option anymore (due to NewsGator stopping their service) and neither is the previously available alternative option of syncing to .Mac or an FTP site. The Clippings functionality is also currently missing in action; they haven’t been deleted, but there is no way to access them.
Not all users are happy with the new beta, as can been seen on the NetNewsWire forum. NetNewsWire was originally a paid application, which was then turned into a free application by NewsGator. The new beta contains a relatively large ad embedded in the bottom left of the window. In the future, this can be turned off with a yet unannounced payment system of some sort, which of course has some people up in arms. While one can usually say “just stick with the existing version” this won’t apply beyond August when NewsGator shuts off its sync servers. But for a syncing service without any monthly fees, you’re always taking this risk. Personally, I’m happy to switch to Google Reader and can cope with ads. Developers need income too!
An updated version of NetNewsWires for the iPhone/iPod touch is also in the works that will support Google Reader syncing. The release date for this is currently unknown. For those that are interested, you can follow the progress of the new betas at nnwbeta.com and even follow the developer’s twitter account recounting the coding work.
Переслать - Book Reveals Rare Apple Prototype Designs
Jonathan Ive wasn't always the Grand Overlord designer and demi-God at Apple. Before Ive re-imagined the Macintosh, other talented souls attempted to shape the next generation of Apple products with the clean industrial design for which the company is famous.
In the 1980s, Frog Design was charged with producing design prototypes for Apple — specifically the Apple IIc and some early models of the Macintosh. 9to5Mac reports that the founder of Frog Design, Harmut Esslinger, has published a book which features many of those early designs.
“A Fine Line: How Design Strategies are Shaping the Future of Business” is all about the role “smart” product design plays in the success of a business. As well as gorgeous pictures, the book includes background stories from Esslinger detailing the design and prototype process.
"We worked closely with Steve Jobs and Apple’s developers to innovate computer usability and appearance, resulting in iconic products with no historic precedent."
My personal favorite is that funky laptop. Can you see elements in these prototypes that have influenced the Apple products we use today? Share your thoughts in the comments, and tell me if you agree those earbuds are just short of being classified as a torture device!
Переслать - Uh Oh, Steve Ballmer Likes the MacBook Air's Chances
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer has an unimpressive track record at predictions, which is why his latest comments should be of concern to Apple and, especially, MacBook Air fans:
Those new ultra-thin PCs, the first of which will be coming later this year and, presumably running Windows 7, won't be as cheap as $299 or $399 netbooks, Ballmer admitted, but they will combine netbooks' portability, with some unnamed but higher-sounding prices.
Though the MacBook Air won’t be running Windows 7 any time soon, the rest of the quote is a pretty good description of it. Ballmer had earlier defined this “new” class of PC when speaking at the kick-off presentation for Microsoft’s Financial Analyst Meeting:
Ballmer told analysts there would be a new class of "ultra-thin" PCs" — or high-end netbooks –coming this year that would combine the light weight of netbooks with high-power and high-performance of traditional PCs.
Yep, that’s the MacBook Air alright.
When the Air was introduced, Steve Jobs first outlined these three problems (compromises) with netbooks:
- Small screens
- Tiny keyboard
- Low processing power
The MacBook Air went on to address them all. And it did so as a “high-end” model for a “higher-sounding” price, exactly as Ballmer is predicting will not appear until “later this year.”
Will Ballmer’s bad track record seal the MacBook Air’s fate? Or will this particular “prediction,” which is of the past, and tantamount to predicting yesterday’s sunrise, be an isolated case of him being correct?
I guess only time will tell if the MacBook Air is truly finished.
Переслать - VoloMedia Awarded Patent for Podcasting
Remember how in 2006, Apple tried to stop Podcast Ready, Inc. from using the word "podcast" because it infringed on their trademarks? For a brief time, there was talk of Apple cracking-down on anyone who dared use the term in their products or services.
Apple's lawyers finally relaxed (or perhaps they were distracted by 2007's struggles with Cisco over the iPhone trademark). Today everyone uses the term with wild abandon.
Well, hold on to your hats because we're about to see a fresh drama unfold along fairly similar lines. This time it's not about trademarks, but about who invented podcasting. And, according to the U.S. Patent Office, that would be VoloMedia, "the leading provider of advertising and reporting solutions for portable media," or so their website says.
Chris over at NewTeeVee reports that VoloMedia has been awarded what it called the "patent for podcasting," and, while actual content creators will not be impacted, "delivery mechanisms other than a PC" would fall under the patent.
VoloMedia's founder Murgesh Navar is remaining tight-lipped for now. When asked during a phone interview whether VoloMedia believes competitors are infringing on the patent and whether or not the company plans on enforcing it, founder Murgesh Navar declined to answer, saying only, "We're not talking about violation or litigation."
For those who want the minute details, Patent number 7,568,213 can be viewed here. The short of it, for those who just want the bottom line, is fairly straightforward. The patent is titled "Method for Providing Episodic Media" and covers, “…the fundamental mechanisms of podcasting, including providing consumer subscription to a show, automatically downloading media to a computer, prioritizing downloads, providing users with status indication, deleting episodes, and synchronizing episodes to a portable media device.”
How will this affect Apple and the lugubrious iTunes delivery system, arguably the number one method for podcast subscription? When asked about iTunes, [...] Navar indicated VoloMedia is in talks with Apple and TV networks, among others, "about growing the business and market."
Переслать - Beta Watch: SeaMonkey 2
I’ve been looking for an up-to-date, Gecko-based browser to replace the discontinued Netscape Navigator 9 on my old G4 Pismo PowerBook running OS 10.4 Tiger. Navigato still works well, is based on the now-ancient Firefox 2 and probably has some security vulnerabilities. Firefox 3.5 and Camino 1.6 are great on my Intel Mac, but kinda sluggish on the Pismo with its RAGE 128GPU and 8MB of VRAM.
Happily, another Gecko with relatively modest hardware demands is still actively developed. SeaMonkey is the last of the Internet suite browsers, with built-in email and newsgroup client, IRC chat application and a WYSIWYG Web page composer — essentially an updated, refined, security-patched iteration of the old Mozilla Application Suite and Netscape Communicator.
The non-browser elements of SeaMonkey aren’t of much interest to me, so I’ve had a tendency to overlook the program, but my quest for a Navigator 9 replacement sent me checking out the latest SeaMonkey 2.0 beta on the Pismo, and I’m liking it.
Firefox 3.5.1 Under the Hood
SeaMonkey 2.0 Beta 1 is thoroughly modern under the hood, using the browser core and web feature support from Firefox 3.5.1, including all security fixes, audio/video, downloadable fonts, and JIT-compiled Javascript.
Its download manager is completely reworked, including (hooray!) support for cross-session resumable downloads, new-tab and new-window command line options, and fully customizable toolbars.
Mail archiving is now supported and history is stored in a better database. A huge improvement is support for post-crash session restore and the option to restore browser windows and tabs from the last open session when starting.
Interface Refreshed
A longstanding gripe has been that SeaMonkey’s UI looks “antiquated,” with the lack of eye-candy being one reason why it’s lively on older hardware like my PowerBook.
However, with SeaMonkey 2, the UI has a brighter, more contemporary look — still simple, but everything I need is there: tabbed browsing and a real progress bar. I do wish they’d put close buttons on individual tabs rather than having to mouse to the extreme right. Like the Gecko-based browsers (except Cocoa Camino), it doesn’t support OS X Services, but that’s about it for complaints.
“Everything But The Kitchen Sink”
Even as a beta, performance and stability are impressive enough to make me a fan, but if having “everything but the kitchen sink” in one application appeals, SeaMonkey’s suite of Web apps will be icing on the proverbial cake. Indeed I find this SeaMonkey beta so pleasant to use I’ve been running it on my Intel Mac as well for the past several days.
Переслать - "Unusual" Character Hack May Put All iPhones in Peril
Cybersecurity researchers Charlie Miller and Collin Mulliner claim they can bring down your iPhone by sending it just a single "unusual" character, according to Forbes, which first published news of the exploit earlier this week.
A single square character or a series of "invisible" messages can be used to confuse an iPhone, leaving it open to hackers. The exploit affects all models of iPhones, running all versions of the iPhone OS. The only way to protect the phone from attack is to shut it down.
"Someone could pretty quickly take over every iPhone in the world with this," said Miller. After running the exploit, a hacker has control over any of the iPhone's features. According to Forbes, this includes "dialing the phone, visiting Web sites, turning on the device’s camera and microphone and, most importantly, sending more text messages to further propagate a mass-gadget hijacking."
Unlike previous exploits, this one doesn't require the user to do anything, and can strike at any time. The only prerequisite is that the iPhone is connected to a cellular network. Miller and Mulliner say they informed Apple of the exploit "more than a month" ago, but so far, the company has not issued a patch to close it. Forbes adds that Apple didn't respond to "repeated calls" seeking comment.
“I’ve given them more time to patch this than I’ve ever given a company to patch a bug,” Miller told Forbes. “As a researcher, I can only show [Apple] the bugs. It’s up to them to fix them.”
Miller is no stranger to exposing security flaws in the iPhone. In 2007, he identified a browser exploit that also gave hackers similar control over a user's iPhone. Miller and Mulliner are expected to publicize details of the latest flaw today at the Black Hat digital security conference in Nevada.
Переслать - Hot CPU? Three Ways to Keep Your Cool
For a product as cool as the MacBook Pro, it sure does get hot. Too hot, sometimes. I've had many laptops in my time, and I'd never go back to plastic IBM compatibles as long as Apple keeps churning out these beautiful aluminum machines. But heat dissipation is a real problem for anyone who makes their MacBook work hard.
It's important to keep temperatures as low as possible because a hot CPU is a stressed CPU, and if a processor runs too hot for too long, it runs a higher risk of becoming damaged. Until then, a machine that runs too hot is prone to freezing or crashing.
There are two things to keep in mind before we get started. The first is that — for the most part — MacBooks don't normally “overheat.” Sure, they get hot, but they are designed to get hot. A casual few minutes spent on Google reveals far too many people casually talking about their machines "overheating," when what they really mean is that their machines are getting "hot." And by "hot," we mean "very warm." But not painfully hot. And certainly not egg-frying hot. If your MacBook truly reaches those temperatures, you should stop using it and take it to your nearest Apple dealer for repair, not complain about it on discussion boards!
The second thing to keep in mind is that a MacBook's fans have been pre-programmed by Apple. There's more on this below, but it's worth remembering that Apple has invested a great deal of time and expense developing today's MacBook range. If anyone can be considered an expert in MacBook cooling, it's Apple. So if you are unsure about how to proceed, or don't feel comfortable modifying your Mac's settings, then simply skip to the Common Sense Fix below.
I have a three-pronged approach to keeping my MacBook cool. There's the Hardware Fix, the Software Fix and, overarching both of those, the Common Sense Fix. Let's start with that one.
The Common Sense Fix
They might be discreetly positioned along the back edge of your machine and hard to spot, but a MacBook does have air vents. The internal fans are trying to push hot air out through those vents. Try not to cover or obstruct them with fabric or, say, thick cables.
The human body, bed covers and clothing — they're all poor conductors but great insulators. If you rest your MacBook on your bed, lap or stomach for a long while, it's going to get uncomfortably hot because there's probably insufficient air-flow around the vents and because the surfaces you're using can't efficiently conduct heat away from the machine.
The Hardware Fix
Aside from torsional strength and rigidity, the aluminum unibody of modern MacBooks brings another useful property to the mix; metal is a great conductor of heat. Far better, in fact, than the plastic shells of most laptops. Apple exploits this property by using the entire body of the machine as an efficient means for drawing heat away from the MacBook's processors. In other words, the entire machine (sans lid) becomes a giant heat sink.
Under minimal processor load, or in Energy Saver profiles, this is usually enough to keep the processor reasonably cool, and the MacBook's fans will generally stay below a thousand rpm. At that speed, they're usually near-silent in a quiet room.
But plug your machine in to a power outlet, burn a DVD and do some heavy Photoshop work and things start getting hot. The underside of my MacBook Pro (late 2008 model) can get uncomfortably warm when pushing the processor with these sorts of tasks. The fans will kick in to high gear at this point — spinning at least a few thousand rpm — enough for them to suddenly be quite noticeable.
If you absolutely must continue working, and the Common Sense Fix hasn't stopped your MacBook from getting itself all hot under the collar, you might want to consider buying an external laptop cooler. There are hundreds of models out there, and they mostly do about as well as one another.
Don't expect miracles though; a laptop cooler is unlikely to guarantee ice-cold conditions for your precious processors. I've been through a few coolers in my time and, other than some extraordinary variances in price, none have ever left a laptop noticeably cold to the touch. Moderately cooler, yes.
The Software Fix
Hardware cooling, because it's usually pretty moderate, is only part of the solution to getting your MacBook's temperature under control. Here is where you use the machine's internal fans to get things really cool.
There are several software solutions for managing your machine's on-board fans. I use one called smcFanControl, a popular free app that's very easy to use. smcFanControl provides a constant (and unobtrusive) readout of my MacBook's core temperature and fan speed. If I notice the machine is getting hot and want to bring it down a few degrees, I can temporarily ramp up the fans.
This is my personal solution, I've found it works well enough for me. What do you do to keep your core cool? Let us know in the comments.
Переслать - When Does Apple Become Anticompetitive?
When the Palm Pre/iTunes Syncing fiasco started, especially when Apple blocked the hack Palm was using and people started screaming about Apple's monopolistic practices, I pretty much shrugged the whole thing off. In Apple's eyes, iTunes exists for one reason, and one reason only: to sync with iPods and iPhones; Apple is under no obligation to open its software to Palm any more than Epson is under any obligation to make their scanner software work with Canon's.
With the App Store, it's a little different. A year ago, Steve Jobs stood on a stage and painted a picture of Apple as benevolent Guardian of Light. The types of software Apple would disallow seemed like a no brainer: porn, malicious apps, bandwidth hogs, etc. Now, I'm starting to think that scene could have been from a remake of the Godfather.
A young software developer nominated by his peers to ask this request is ushered into the Godfather's study. A tall, unshaven man is sitting behind a desk petting a cat. Two men are off in the shadows.
"Please Godfather," the young man pleads. "We will do anything to be able to develop for the iPhone. ANYTHING."
The Godfather sighs, puts the cat down and stands up, brushing cat hairs from his black mock turtleneck. His sons, Phil and Tim, come out of the shadows. He walks over to the trembling developer, places his arm around his shoulders and says, "I will grant you your request. In return, you will let me dip my beak into your enterprise — just a little, say 30 percent. You will also agree to make no apps with that funny business. No nudity. Nothing obscene. We are not the monsters the media paints us to be. We run a family business. However, I must caution: Some day, and that day may never come, I may need to disallow one of your apps."
A year passes, and the young software developer is now in a basement, chained to a chair under a single, exposed light. Blood is running down his face and the Godfather is wearing a stained apron over his turtleneck and jeans.
"I let you run your own little enterprise, and this is how you repay me? You attack my own business and try to cut into my profits — cut into the alliances I have created with the other Families, the Families that are the transport for our commerce. Why do you disrespect me? There can be no competition to the apps that ship on the iPhone. No apps to download podcasts. No apps to check your mail. No apps to surf the Internet. We already give you those apps."
I have an issue with Apple disallowing apps because they "duplicate existing functionality” on the iPhone. Granted, there's a line. As much as I'd love a Gmail app that handled conversation threading, I can see where there'd be confusion with it not being the default mail client. For the most part though, I think if someone searches for, and downloads, an app, there's not going to be much confusion on what it does.
It seems like we rarely go through a month where there's not an app rejection worthy of a facepalm. Podcaster got refused because it had functionality Apple hadn't released yet. Eucalyptus got refused because a reviewer was able to use it to download the Kama Sutra (although you can make a point it duplicated existing functionality since Apple thoughtfully provided a browser I can use to view all types of adult content). Now, Google Voice got refused because AT&T requested it. With the not-so-subtle attacks against AT&T at WWDC, I'm amazed Apple caved to AT&T and didn't just start laughing.
Developers are starting to shy away from the platform — it may not be an exodus, but the natives are definitely restless. While he's much maligned for it, Ballmer was right: it's all about developers, developers, developers. This is turning into a PR nightmare for Apple, which is hard to imagine, given PR is Apple's strong point.
I'm also worried if they continue refusing apps because it competes against Apple (or, rather, "duplicates existing functionality") that may begin to start an antitrust movement. It's not illegal for a company to be a monopoly; it is illegal to use that monopoly to stifle competition. I fear Apple is getting dangerously close to that point with the heavy hand they have on the App Store.
Переслать - Steve Jobs Asked to Deliver CES 2010 Keynote
Update: Charny has updated his article now saying it is “not clear” if Jobs will attend. In addition Ryan Block, who was apparently there with Shaprio when he was talking about this, completely refutes the idea that Jobs was ever even asked to deliver the keynote.
He's probably the best keynote presenter in the history of history. Probably. And now Steve Jobs has been asked to present the opening keynote at next year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Nevada.
A report yesterday from the Wall Street Journal's Ben Charny reveals that Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) chief executive Gary Shapiro asked Jobs to deliver the keynote at next year's show. The CES is the world's biggest consumer electronics trade show. Apple is a confirmed attendee for 2010, marking the first time it has attended the event since the trade show began thirty-odd years ago.
Shapiro was at dinner with journalists who asked him if he had invited Steve Jobs to keynote the show. Charny writes:
Yes, Jobs has been asked, but nobody from Apple has gotten back to him, Shapiro said. This isn't the first time he's contacted Jobs and not gotten a response, he said.
When reminded that Jobs rarely grants interviews or responds to requests of this kind, Shapiro said:
"I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one in that position."
Confirmed keynoters at next year's show include Intel's CEO Paul Otellini and Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer.
Apple pulled out of the MacWorld Expo trade shows so that it did not feel obliged to make announcements at the event that were not in-step with the company's product roadmaps. If Apple has anything to brag about early in the new year (a MacTablet, anyone?) CES provides an enticing opportunity.
This year's CES attendance was down a depressing 20 percent — blamed, naturally, on the global recession. If Jobs accepts the invitation, perhaps next year’s attendance figure will see a significant improvement. And I don't know about you, but I'd much rather see Steve Jobs deliver the opening Keynote than Steve "I love this company!" Ballmer.
Переслать - Freeverse Joins ngmoco's Plus+ Social Gaming Network
ngmoco recently introduced a social gaming platform that was billed as the iPhone’s Xbox Live equivalent. Plus+ is meant to track players’ in-game achievements, rankings, and allow them to challenge one another to compete in asynchronous multiplayer battles. It’s a well-designed system, and it works well, but since only ngmoco titles are supported, it feels a little limited.
All of that changes today, as another independent game maker has announced a partnership with ngmoco to include Plus+ features in its titles, as well. Freeverse, maker of Flick Fishing, Moto Chaser, and Grunts, among many others, is the company in question, and Plus+ support has been officially unveiled as coming to Flick Fishing, and to the upcoming space conquest and trading game Warp Gate. While no other games are officially on the Plus+ list as of yet, it’s likely more will quickly follow pending the success of the initial launch.
Thanks to Plus+ integration, Freeverse gamers will now be able to take advantage of all of the same features ngmoco fans have enjoyed, including building cross-game friends lists, unlocking in-game awards, seeing what their friends are playing, and challenging friends to try to beat their own top scores.
At the time of the original launch of Plus+, I expressed hope that other iPhone gaming companies would follow suit with social services of their own. ngmoco apparently had the much better idea to try to license its service with other development companies, which makes for a much more cohesive experience for gamers. It’s done a good job of not tying the Plus+ brand inextricably to the ngmoco label, so that it should port well to other third-party developers without too much concern about promoting a rival included as part of the deal.
It’s currently unclear whether or not you’ll be able to see if your friends have both Freeverse and ngmoco games from the Plus+ dashboard in either game, but it would only make sense to do so, since exposure should, in theory, be beneficial for all parties. While Plus+ doesn’t have an open SDK, like OpenFeint and ScoreLoop, it looks like ngmoco is definitely open to advances, and in my opinion, it’s easily the best designed of the three services.
It’ll probably depend heavily on how this partnership with Freeverse fares, but hopefully other companies will be quick to jump on the bandwagon and throw their support behind Plus+. Good candidates for future consideration are Digital Chocolate, makers of Tower Bloxx, Chocolate Shop, and countless other titles, and the big fish, Gameloft, which could potentially win the service enough cred to draw attention from someone like EA, which would make it the defacto iPhone social gaming network, beating out all other contenders.
Переслать - Apple Adds 2TB Time Capsule, Now Available
Without much fanfare, and over a day later than it usually announces products, Apple has released a new version of its integrated network storage/Wi-Fi router today.
The new Time Capsule sports an industry pace-keeping 2TB of hard drive space, and can be yours for a mere $499. Not bad, considering your average external USB 2TB drive will cost you around $250 at the low end, and an Airport Extreme on its own is $199.
The coming of the much beefier Time Capsule also results in a price drop for the 1TB model, shaving off a solid $200, to $299. The 500GB, which up until today commanded that very same sum, gets discontinued completely, which hopefully will translate to deep discounts from retailers still holding onto existing stock. I know I’d pick one up if it went for, say, $179? Just a suggestion, licensed distributors.
Like the previous models, the new 2TB comes equipped with the dual-band router present in its predecessors and the newest Airport Extreme, which lets you work on both the 2.4GHz and 5GHz band simultaneously, for optimal network efficiency. I’m not sure about your setup, but mine has so much static from the sheer volume of connected devices that dual-band networking is a huge selling point. Not sure if the value proposition is quite attractive enough yet at the high end of the scale, but at $300, the 1TB model feels like it might’ve hit a sweet spot for consumers like me who’ve been holding out for a better deal.
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