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- WWDC 2010 Keynote Live Coverage
TheAppleBlog will be at the WWDC 2010 keynote providing live coverage!
We’ll be providing text and photo updates both before and during the event to see if any our predictions came true.
The keynote will start on Monday, June 7 at 10AM PST and we’ll be starting our coverage an hour or so before.
You can tune in via live.theappleblog.com and via our Twitter account: @theappleblog
Be sure to signup for a reminder of when coverage starts.
Переслать - TechUniversity: Conditional Formatting with Numbers
Conditional formatting in Numbers, part of Apple’s iWork suite, lets you format the contents of a cell based on certain rules.
So say you want to show all negative numbers as red and bold…conditional formatting lets us do that!
We’ll cover how to apply conditional formatting to numbers, text and dates in this TechUniversity screencast on Conditional Formatting with Numbers (subscription required).
Below is a sample of the video. The full screencast clocks in at just over 10 minutes.
Переслать - WWDC 2010 Predictions
For Sure
iPhone OS 4.0
I do not expect many surprises beyond what is already listed on the what’s new page but it will be nice to get some more details on the iAd program and Game Center. My money is on a GM release available in the Developer Center later on Tuesday as soon as the keynote is over. The software might be available in an iTunes update on Tuesday as well.
iPhone OS 4.0 for iPad
Steve has already said that it will be available in the fall, but I expect we will hear about the imminent release of developer betas of iPhone OS 4 for iPad. I will go out on a limb and guess that iPhone OS 4 for iPad will be available on CD’s at the event and will appear on the Developer Center sometime next week.
New iPhone Hardware
The fourth generation of the iPhone hardware will not be called the iPhone 4G. No way. It would be too confusing to market a mobile phone as a 4G device when it does not speak 4G wireless protocols (LTE or IMT Advanced). I think it will be called the iPhone HD. That HD moniker is going to be popular this season.
The only big question remaining is to see if Steve brings G.P. up on stage with him to introduce it.
Tethering
AT&T already announced that tethering on the iPhone would be available on Tuesday. If the software is not available to customers on that day and date, it would make AT&T look foolish and incompetent… wait a second.
Apple Design Awards Winners
The winners of this year’s Apple Design Awards for iPhone and iPad apps will surprise no one. Sure, I mean, it will be a surprise and all but there will not be a single app on the list that you have not heard of. I expect a few of the iPad showcase apps from the January event to get a nicely lit cube to take home.
Maybe
Apple TV
There are quite a few rumors flying that the next Apple TV will be based on the iPhone OS and the A4 processor in the iPad. The idea of running apps on the Apple TV, even with a non-touch, remote control interface, is exciting. Pandora would be amazing. I am a little concerned that the iPad can only do 720p video, so the Apple TV would need a little extra oomph to get to 1080p. If it does 1080p, it will be called the Apple TV HD.
iPod touch
There have been some sightings of the next iPod touch casing that show a camera. We might see an update here, but I would not expect anything until the back to school promotion is over in the fall.
Mac Pro Update
I think we are all ready for new Mac Pro hardware. New six-core Xeons would be amazing. You know, sometimes you just need a big truck to do some heavy lifting.
No Chance
OS X 10.7
This year is all about the iPhone. I think the only mention that 10.7 might get is to remind everyone that they are not going to hear about it this week.
Other U.S. Carriers
So many people want this that I figured I had to put it on the list even though I don’t think it is going to happen in the next week. If you are waiting to get an iPhone on Verizon, T-Mobile or Sprint — keep waiting.
App Store Approval Process Q&A with Apple Executives
Hehe. Just having a bit of fun there.
I Can Dream, Can’t I?
Safari Extensions
Gruber dropped a hint the other week that an extension framework for Safari might be coming. Extensions are one of the few things that keep me on Firefox and Chrome. While Safari extensions would certainly be welcome on the desktop, it could also be amazing on the iPhone and the iPad.
MobileMe
I have heard the arguments for Apple to make MobileMe free, but I do not think that will happen. What I am hoping for is a cloud file system that makes sense for the iPhone and iPad.
iTunes Cloud/Lala
It would be nice to hear about a cloud strategy for iTunes, especially if the next Apple TV is primarily a streaming device. Surely that big, fancy, new data center is going to be used for something. That said, I am not holding my breath.
What Do You Want to See?
What are you expecting (or wishing) to hear about next week? Sound off in the comments below. And don’t forget to check out our live coverage of the keynote!
For those interested in cloud computing or data centers, check out our Structure conference in June.
Переслать - Poll: Who's Buying an iPhone or iPad Before AT&T's New Rate Plan Kicks In?
Perhaps the most polarizing news in these parts of late is around AT&T’s new smartphone data plan changes, which the carrier unveiled yesterday. Some customers are happy that they’ll be saving up to $15 a month with reduced plan pricing, while others aren’t thrilled to hear that unlimited data is going away in favor of 200 MB or 2 GB buckets with overage charges. Those in the latter camp might appreciate the facetious tweet of Rahul Sood, founder of VoodooPC: “Look on the bright side AT&T customers, your data is STILL unlimited, it’s your bill that was uncapped.”
But the new rate plans don’t take effect until June 7, so there’s still a wee bit of time for new customers to nab an iPhone or iPad under the current unlimited plan offerings. Considering the expectation of a possible front-facing video camera that’s sure to gobble up data on AT&T’s network, it just might make sense to buy a current iPhone 3GS to gain the unlimited data contract and hope you can return the old model for a new one next week. The newest iPhone hardware is widely expected to launch at Apple’s WWDC event next Monday, the same day the new AT&T tiered pricing plans kick in.
Meanwhile iPad owners, which watch three times more video on their Apple device than on others, seem the most miffed, and with good reason. Apple announced an innovative, unlimited AT&T data plan specific to the iPad when it introduced the device in January, which goes by the wayside with this new data plan.
So who’s buying an iPhone or iPad between now and Monday?
Related GigaOM Pro content (sub req'd):
Will Metered Mobile Data Slow the App Markets Growth?
Переслать - Widget Apps Get the Axe in Latest App Store Purge
It feels like it’s been a while since Apple has implemented a new policy which resulted in the wholesale removal of a whole slew of applications from the App Store. But don’t worry, they remain vigilant, as many unlucky developers discovered yesterday. The newest target of Apple’s wrath are so-called “widget” or “dashboard” apps.
I was made aware of the situation by Gehan Dias of Appwolf, a development studio which has been working on a widget-type app called Mashboard. Mashboard sort of emulates what I think the iPhone’s home screen should look like anyway, in that it provides a wealth of information from multiple sources, more like the Android home screen. In fact it looks quite like a desktop, which is apparently what Apple took issue with.
Steve Jobs said as much in a brief email exchange with the developer of another widget app, one called My Frame that allows you to overlay photos on your iPad with other things, like weather, sticky notes, etc. Like with Mashboard, the problem was showing more than “one thing at a time,” according to a phone call Appwolf’s developer had with the Apple app review team.
A ban on all (or most) sexually explicit applications? That makes sense. Apple doesn’t want to tarnish its squeaky-clean reputation, and it’s even admirable that the company is interested in keeping the App Store as family friendly as possible. In that case, a new rule was possibly justified, even if developers felt the rug was being pulled out from under them. This instance of retroactive rule implementation is far more suspect, and far harder to justify.
I have a couple theories about why Apple decided to implement this new policy, and about why it chose to do it now. The first is not that thrilling, and involves Apple doubting the intelligence of its users. With official multitasking just around the corner, it’s possible that Cupertino believes widget-style apps could confuse end users into mistaking these apps for the actual iPhone home screen, or in not being able to tell what’s running and what isn’t.
The other scenario, which is actually kind of exciting from an end-user perspective, though not for developers necessarily, is that Apple is planning on introducing its own dashboard implementation on the device. We haven’t seen it in iPhone OS 4 betas, but it could be a new feature tied exclusively to the next generation iPhone hardware that’ll be unveiled at the WWDC keynote next week.
Whatever the reason, it clearly isn’t fair, especially since Apple is keeping very mum about how to go about resolving the problem. Appwolf is investigating the way in which another developer got its own Desktop (that’s the actual name) app back in the store, and it appears to be the floating widget aesthetic specifically that Apple has trouble with. Even if Apple is implementing its own widget interface, there’s no need to quash the efforts of others to get consumer attention.
Переслать - Google TV or Apple TV?
With the recent unveiling of Google TV and rumors swirling of a pending cloud-based Apple TV, it’s interesting to see how both companies’ strategies will play out in this market. Apple, meeting with limited success with its product, has called its device “a hobby” but Google is forging ahead with what it believes could revolutionize the industry. So how do they compare?
What’s In a Name?
For starters, they both feature similar names. Simply take your company name and slap TV on the end. Very original, Google, but a point goes to Apple for having the idea first.
Beyond just what’s on the box, though, what do both of these companies stand for? What do users really associate with these brands? For Google, it tends to be searching and information. For Apple, it tends to be entertainment. You can back up this argument just by looking at what these companies do. Google has set the standard for search engines and Apple has created an entire ecosystem of products around iTunes, including content and third-party support.
How Does the Hardware Match Up?
Details on the new Google TV are sketchy, though we know it’s really more of a platform than just a piece of hardware. External set-top boxes will be produced by Logitech and partners like Sony will build the technology into their televisions. Additional television vendors will be added over time as they build in the technology as well. But how does the hardware compare? Here’s what we know.
Google TV
- 1.2GHz “Sodaville” Atom Processor
- 4GB of Memory
- 802.11n Wi-Fi & Ethernet
- Dual HDMI ports
- Dual USB ports
- S/PDIF out
- Video Chipset: Unknown
- Storage: Unknown
- OS: Android
For comparison, let’s look at what the current Apple TV offers.
Apple TV
- 1GHz “Crofton” Pentium M Processor
- 256MB of Memory
- 802.11n Wi-Fi & Ethernet
- HDMI port
- Component Video, Stereo Audio, Optical Audio Out
- USB port (for service only)
- Video Chipset: NVIDIA G72M with 64MB DDR2 memory
- Storage: 40GB or 160GB
- OS: Mac OS X 10.4.x
Purely looking at the specs, it looks like the Google TV blows the Apple TV out of the water, which is understandable considering the Apple TV hasn’t seen a hardware update (aside from a larger hard drive) since its launch in 2007. But rumor has it that a new Apple TV is around the corner and it could provide some stiff competition, boasting an A4 processor similar to the iPad and capable of delivering 1080p content.
The Experience
So what’s the big deal about Google TV? In Google’s eyes, it’s all about giving users the ability to find the content they want across a wide variety of mediums including broadcast TV, YouTube and pretty much anywhere on the Internet. The device also includes a built-in web browser (with support for Flash) allowing users to access content from virtually anywhere.
While the current Apple TV doesn’t support interfacing at all with broadcast TV, nor full Internet access, it still offers similarities with Google TV, like YouTube or accessing photos from the cloud from sources like Flickr or MobileMe. In fact, it even beats Google’s approach by tapping on the power of the iTunes Store, providing users with tons of content that they can buy or rent and download.
That’s really where we see a big difference in the strategies of both companies. On one hand, Google is attempting to aggregate all of the content from a wide range of places into one simple list of search results. How effective will this be? If I search for “Battlestar Galactica” will I find random YouTube clips, bootleg TV shows and other vaguely related ephemera mixed in? As I mentioned earlier, Google TV is a platform running Android, which means that an SDK will be available to allow developers to create specialized apps. In theory, Netflix could easily develop its own Google TV app just as it did for the iPad. Unfortunately, the openness of this platform can also be a disadvantage. Look at HTC’s Android-based products, for instance, which feature different interfaces for similar tasks.
On the other hand, Apple’s strategy has been to provide content that people want, but holding that content to a high standard of quality mixed with a simple to use interface. To see what I mean by this, look no further than the App Store which, for better or worse, has maintained a growing selection of quality apps. Or consider the iTunes Store. It’s easy to browse and find a show that I want, view any of the seasons that are available to purchase and sometimes even have my choice of SD or HD content.
While the current Apple TV may not have some of the features of Google’s offering, it does play very well with Apple’s iTunes ecosystem and that’s something that Google cannot, and hasn’t yet shown a desire to, compete with.
The Future
Even at this week’s D8 conference, Steve Jobs still referred to the Apple TV as a “hobby” and, while we are eagerly anticipating rumors of a cloud-based Apple TV to come to fruition, we’re still left where we began — a box that is just a hobby. In fact, at the conference he expressed his views on set-top boxes altogether.
The problem with innovation in the TV industry is the go-to-market strategy. The TV industry has a subsidized model that gives everyone a set top box for free. So no one wants to buy a box. Ask TiVo, ask Roku, ask us…ask Google in a few months. The television industry fundamentally has a subsidized business model that gives everyone a set-top box, and that pretty much undermines innovation in the sector. The only way this is going to change is if you start from scratch, tear up the box, redesign and get it to the consumer in a way that they want to buy it.
We’ve speculated before about what a future Apple TV could look like and rumors are circulating that the next version could be based on the iPhone OS. This inevitability opens the door to an App Store and, at least in my opinion, works to address the issue of getting content to the consumer in a way that they want to buy it. Apple has tried several approaches to this (iTunes Extras, for instance) but nothing has really seen the runaway success like the App Store.
For comparison, a good number of people feel the print industry is dying, but looking at the success of the Wired iPad app, all of a sudden developers have a powerful canvas to push existing content and new ideas of content to consumers. Would a similar model be successful in the living room environment? What do you think? Do you think Google TV will really be a game-changer or a lackluster platform? Is Apple’s direction or Google’s the best? Share what you think.
For those interested in cloud computing or data centers, check out our Structure conference in June.
Related GigaOM Pro Research: Google TV: Overview and Strategic Analysis
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