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- TechUniversity Freebie: Publishing a Podcast
Today we’ve got a full-length TechUniversity freebie for you!
Embedded below is a 19 minute screencast on publishing a podcast with GarageBand and some other tools. We’ll walk you through how to export your podcast and get it published!
If you enjoy this screencast, please check out all the other great screencasts at TechUniversity!
Переслать - Apple Previews iOS 4.2, Still Syncs Like iPhone OS 1.0
Reiterating much of the iOS presentation by Steve Jobs, a new web page adds a few details to what iOS 4.2 brings in November. As Steve Jobs said, “it’s all about iPad,” and that’s a shame because it should be about the cloud.
iOS 4.2′s major features include multitasking, folders, wireless printing, and AirPlay, the latter a renaming and expansion of AirTunes to include video. Of course, multitasking requires apps written for iOS 4, and can have the same drawbacks as on other iOS devices: performance and battery life. Folders are fine, and the enhancements to Mail, a unified inbox, threads, and opening attachments in third-party apps, will be great.
Minor improvements include Game Center, more language support for keyboards and dictionaries, accessibility enhancements, and improved security and remote management for enterprise. There’s also a welcome minor enhancement to Safari, allowing searching to “find and highlight specific words and phrases on large web pages.”
So why do I feel underwhelmed?
It’s because we now live in a world where millions of people have multiple iOS devices, and yet with few exceptions we still have to plug and unplug each device into a computer to synchronize data and programs. Subscribers to MobileMe can add, delete, and make changes to e-mail, contacts, bookmarks, calendars—but inexplicably not to do items—those changes populating to every device without even pressing a button, let alone using a cable.
For everything else, you have to plug one device after another into a computer, sync them, then maybe sync some of them again to get all changes to all devices. Even worse, some actions, like deleting podcasts, music, and video, have to be undertaken on the computer, lest they reappear on devices. Outside of iTunes, an ever-increasing number of applications require synchronization themselves, each of which has to be done over a local wireless network one at time.
While there have been alleged Magic 8-ball like e-mails from Steve Jobs promising wireless syncing “someday,” some of us hoped that day would be in November. Are we really going to have to wait until the middle of 2011 before Apple addresses such a fundamental issue as modern synchronization of devices? If so, one wonders where Google and Android will be on that feature then.
Related GigaOM Pro Research: Can Anyone Compete With the iPad?
Переслать - Apple Doubles iPad Production, May Triple Soon
The Apple iPad recently became available to ship within 24 hours for the first time since it began production in April of this year. It looks like that might be due to a significant ramp up in production on the part of Apple’s manufacturing partners, not a dwindling of interest.
According to Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, the number of iPads being built every month recently went from 1 million to 2 million units per month. Not only that, but Apple has reportedly indicated to its suppliers that it would like to see that number increase further still, to 3 million per month. That additional million is targeted for Q4 2010, and is probably planned in anticipation of strong holiday sales.
Early sales for the iPad have exceeded everyone’s estimates, including Apple’s own. Tim Cook said in July during the company’s Q3 conference call that increasing production capability to deal with the atypically strong early adopted numbers was a top priority for Cupertino.
Clearly Apple is also bullish about its chances against emerging competitors, like the recently introduced Samsung Galaxy Tab, which recent rumors suggest may even exceed the iPad in terms of price. If true, its not a promising sign for the Android crop, admittedly.
The numbers are good news for another group besides Apple itself: iOS developers. More devices on the market means more potential App Store customers. It also means we’ll hopefully see some of the fence-sitters who’ve yet to release true iPad or universal versions of their popular apps (looking at you, Facebook) finally do so.
Apple may also be gearing up for the release of the iPad in other markets where it isn’t yet available, including the lucrative mainland Chinese one. This is the most likely scenario, since it’s hard to believe the holidays alone would account for a threefold increase in demand for a product that’s been on the market for half a year.
Related GigaOM Pro Research: Can Anyone Compete With the iPad?
Переслать - iTunes 10 Interface: Where Apple Went Wrong
Almost every year, Apple releases a new version of iTunes with some new feature. Last year it was Home Sharing. This year, it’s Ping. Apple also usually tweaks the UI, many times creating a backlash. This year Apple has outdone itself.
Vertical Buttons
I’ll start with the most obvious UI tweak: the close/minimize/maximize buttons. I understand why Apple made this change: it saves space. When you hit the maximize button in iTunes, you get the mini-player, which has vertical close/min/max buttons in order to save space. Apple used the same reasoning with the main iTunes window.
There is a way you can disable it. Fire up Terminal and enter the following code:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -boolean YESThat will put the buttons back horizontally. You can change it back if you want to by changing the “YES” to a “NO”.
I don’t mind this change that much. I usually use the keyboard shortcuts to close or minimize iTunes anyway, and the vertical buttons do save space (if only a little).
Monochrome Sidebar
This one really irks me: Apple completely did away with color in the icons in the sidebar. To show you why this was such a dumb idea, I’m going to quote from Apple’s own Human Interface Guidelines:
Making each toolbar icon distinct helps the user associate it with its purpose and locate it quickly. Variations in shape, color, and image all help to differentiate one toolbar icon from another.
Making all the sidebar icons monochrome makes it harder to identify them, especially since they’re all similar in size. Back in iTunes 9, you could easily tell where the iTunes Store was because its icon was green. In iTunes 10, you have to distinguish between the shapes, which is harder for us to do and takes more time.
There are currently a couple of hacks available to address this.
Show/Hide in the Sidebar
Another change made to the sidebar is getting rid of the triangle buttons on the left of list headings. These have been replaced by “Show/Hide” buttons that only appear when you’re hovering over a list name.
Album List View
Album list view is basically list view, but with albums on the side. A version of this existed in iTunes 9, but Apple tweaked the functionality of it as well as added a new toolbar button for it.
The New Icon
The new iTunes icon isn’t bad, it’s just not terribly interesting. I think Apple should have used a color other than blue, because, as Josh pointed out, there’s already a surplus of blue icons in OS X (Finder, Mail, Safari, iChat, QuickTime, etc). Purple would’ve worked nicely.
Apple chose to change the icon as the former “CD” icon has become less and less relevant in the age of digital downloads. But Apple could have taken it a step further. It could have changed the name as well, seeing as iTunes has long been for more than just music. My current favorite is “iMedia,” but that’s a little too broad; media can be images, as well. Also, “iMedia” doesn’t sound as good as “iTunes.” I think Apple will eventually change the name (and the icon to reflect that).
If you’d like tou can change the icon yourself:
- Open your Applications folder in Finder and highlight iTunes.
- Right click on it and select “Show Package Contents”.
- Go to Content -> Resources and replace the iTunes.icns with a new one. There’s already some great replacement icons coming out, like this one from Mattias Ekstrom. Of course, you can also just use the old iTunes icon.
Conclusion
It seems to me like most of the changes in iTunes are changes for change’s sake; just to make it look newer. The only really new feature in iTunes is Ping, and that’s basically just a link in the sidebar.
Do you love or hate iTunes 10? What other new names might work for it? Tell us in the comments.
Related GigaOM Pro Research: With Ping, Apple Builds a Social Network Inside a Walled Garden
Переслать - Ping: A Social Network Inside a Walled Garden
Whether by design or accident, Ping's lack of integration with other social networks, or even with the web itself, is now its most compelling feature — at least from a strategic perspective. It's essentially an e-commerce platform for music disguised as a social network.Переслать - iPod touch Is Close, But Still No Contract-Free iPhone
Apple found a way to cram a large number of iPhone 4 features in the new iPod touch: retina display, two cameras with FaceTime support, and the A4 chip. So it's just like a contract-free iPhone 4 without voice right? Wrong on at least three counts.Переслать - Quick Tip: Make iTunes 10 Window Controls Horizontal
iTunes 10 was released yesterday and brought with it a few UI overhauls. The loss of color in the sidebar for one, along with the change of orientation of the window controls at the top of the window. There currently isn’t a way to bring back the colored icons in the sidebar, but there sure is a way to get the window controls back to their former positions.
It’s simple enough, and requires just one line to be entered into Terminal. Quit iTunes, wait for it to close completely, then fire up Terminal, which can be found under Applications → Utilities. Either type or paste the following code into the Terminal window and hit Return:
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -1Now when you reopen iTunes, the ‘traffic light’ controls should be back along the top of the window, side-by-side. It does a lot for keeping the look of OS X consistent across applications. Of course, perhaps this is Apple’s way of telling us that in the next version of the Mac operating system, all the windows are going to be laid out like this.
Should you ever want to restore iTunes 10′s default setting, and put the controls back down the side, enter this code into Terminal (again with iTunes closed):
defaults write com.apple.iTunes full-window -0Now we have a fix for the window controls, all we need is a setting to bring back the color in the sidebar. If you know a way, shout out in the comments!
Переслать - Caught in the Wake of Apple's Press Events
After each Apple press event, there is a visible track of turbulence online, in the technology market and on Wall Street that some cannot help but get caught within. There is no denying that when Apple decides to head in a particular direction, it will lead. And all that is left for the rest of us to decide is whether or not we will follow or get out-of-the-way.
When you continually take such wide strides in innovation, intentional or unintentional, there will always be casualties. In 2010 alone, Apple held no less than five major media events that in some way affected the way markets were defined and revenues were earned for a significant number of companies.
Dead or Dying Already
This year we have witnessed the fall of HP’s Slate that Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer introduced at CES, a massive shift in consumer purchasing behavior in the netbook market and media moguls struggle with the hard decision between propping up traditional print or adopting newer digital technologies. When it comes to development platforms, Steve was more than willing to speak out and share his thoughts on the subject, while evidence continues to mount that he was right about Adobe Flash on mobile devices. With just one of two new lenses, two consumer markets were affected: the digital snapshot camera and the handheld HD video recorder. I loved my Flip Mino HD video recorder (past tense). With HD video recording capabilities, on-device editing, and the ability to share instantly online, the justification for a separate Flip video recording device just did not make sense any more.
September 2010 Media Event
There is a reason the entire tech industry pauses a moment to see what Steve will say next at these major press events. Many are holding their breath to see if their bottom line will be affected in either a positive or a negative manner. Every time Steve talks, things change. And yesterday’s event was no different. In many ways, the latest media event from Apple will shake more things up than any previous media event yet this year.
Multi-Room Entertainment Systems: AirPlay has some pretty big names backing it including Denon, Marantz, B&W, JBL and iHome. Simply having the ability to stream music simultaneously to multiple rooms could add some serious competition to products like the Sonos Music System, Bose SoundLink, Yamaha MusicCast and Klipsch LightSpeaker to name a few. Apple is potentially cannibalizing its own product by competing with the presently available AirTunes capability of the AirportExpress.
Print Apps in App Store: So what will happen to the sale of printing apps now that Apple will support printing on the iPad? Until we see exactly how printing will work, it is hard to say at this point. But rest assured that consumers’ willingness to pay a premium for specialized printing abilities will be at a minimum. Currently there are more than a dozen apps for the iPad that can print. Many of these are currently priced anywhere from $4.99 to $9.99. These price points will likely drop, as will support for some of the apps simply because the market will shift in this category.
HDR Apps in App Store: Just as the 5.0 MP camera that Apple introduced with the iPhone 4 has likely cut into the sales of casual point and shoot digital cameras, updating the on board camera app supplied with each iPhone will undoubtedly affect the sales of HDR Apps. This includes wonderful Apps like HDR Camera, TrueHDR and Pro HDR. I have tried these apps and I must say that the when the camera is held steady, the results are stunning.
Roku and Boxee media Devices: While the new Apple TV is not revolutionary, the price point sure is. At the magical price point of just $99, it will be hard for any household with iPads, iPhones, iPods and iMacs to refuse. Especially when this device will make it easier than ever to view all of the memories captured, organized and edited with each of those iPads, iPhones, iPods and iMacs. If Apple would ever decide to make MobileMe free to Apple customers again, this one time cost would be easy to justify. Devices like Roku and Boxee now have some serious competition to contend with.
Everyone wants to lead, but just how far out in front is Apple? Can any company, including Google, have as dramatic of an impact across the entire technology industry, each and every time they decide to have their CEO invite the media over for a chat? In fact, it may be a good idea to check with Steve before you make any sudden moves in the tech industry.
So how has Apple affected your life in 2010?
Переслать - Why the New Apple TV Isn't Something I'll Be Watching
So is Apple TV still only a hobby for Jobs and company? Because if it isn’t, then I’m missing something from yesterday’s presentation when the new iteration of Apple’s set-top device was unveiled. The new Apple TV is smaller, cheaper and sexier, I’ll grant it that, but what else does it really have going for it?
Let’s start with rental only. That’s right, you can only rent content from the Apple TV, not purchase it. It makes sense given the device’s lack of onboard storage, but does it make sense for a buying public that’s only just now moving past the point of physical media ownership? All of a sudden, not only do you not have a disc you own when you pay for content, you also don’t even have a file. Instead you get a window of opportunity.
Call me old-fashioned, but I like archiving my material and I like to have it available whenever I want to review it, or just revisit a favorite scene to make sure I remember it correctly. True, as Steve Jobs said in the presentation, I’ll be able to rent it multiple times for cheaper than I’d be able to buy it, but then I can’t lend it to friends and family, pass it on to my kids or view it again 50 years down the road when its gone out of print.
Putting aside the tyranny of streaming-only, at least you can access your media on your computer, where it is comfortably stored, right? Well, only if you’ve adhered to Apple’s way of doing media, and haven’t strayed to any of the other terrific and much more popular video formats out there. Apple TV remains closed, and as a result, any machine running Boxee hooked up to my TV remains a better option, even considering the price differential for the original purchase.
Speaking of price, let’s look at that $99 tag Jobs dangled in our salivating faces. It’s almost an impulse buy at that point, and I know a few people who indulged that impulse. But you know what else is a good price? $10 for a fancy razor with replaceable heads. Those heads will cost you $40 for a four-pack, sure, but that’s later. Apple isn’t going to make most (if any) of its money on the Apple TV itself (though without much onboard storage, it’s cheap enough to build), but on the gobs of media you’re almost forced to purchase from them as a result.
The inclusion of Netflix is one of the few genuinely impressive things about the new Apple TV. It means that people who already have a subscription don’t need to go in for Apple’s pricier rental options, and the implementation looks pretty impressive as compared to its counterparts on other platforms.
But even if you exclusively use the Netflix option, which means being behind in terms of release dates on TV and movies, you’ll end up paying much more for the hardware than you probably would if you opted for a media PC (or Mac mini, even) purchase and just depended on free streaming from network websites. Occasionally you’d still run up against content you have to pay for, but you can own it, and you options for sourcing that could equate to a much better per purchase price.
In general, I’m willing to deal with Apple’s closed systems and devices because of the trade-offs I get in terms of quality. But third-party apps and desktop software make it possible for me to still use Apple hardware with my own content, regardless of format and point of origin. That’s not likely going to be the case with the Apple TV, and until it is, it won’t find a place in my living room, regardless of cost and cosmetics.
Переслать - Twitter App Updated for iPad
Until now, the state of Twitter on the iPad hasn’t been great. There were a few pretty good apps (I’ve been using Tweetdeck), but the field needed a champion. Enter the official Twitter for iPad app.
Early this morning, Twitter for iOS was updated as a universal app, bringing a new iPad-specific format to the existing iPhone one. Loren Birchter, the man behind the Twitter app, and Twitter itself has long heralded its arrival. So is it worth the wait?
Well, Twitter definitely has the right idea with this app at first glance. Unlike some other third-party clients I could mention, Twitter for iPad takes full advantage of the iPad’s generous screen space, and does so creatively. You won’t find the same sort of columns that Tweetdeck uses, but you will find a modular, multi-pane layout that pushes new content to the right allowing you to navigate through threads of tweets without losing the thread of where you’ve come from and how exactly you got there.
You can also use two nifty new multitouch gestures. Pinching a tweet will show you the user profile of the person who tweeted it, and pulling down with two fingers will open up a view of the entire conversation related to that tweet, if there is one. Video plays inline, or you can expand it to take up the whole screen. It also continues to load in the background if you want to keep navigating through your stream or open panes.
In terms of the differences between landscape and profile view, there really aren’t any, other than getting to see more of your history in landscape, and more of your timeline in portrait. Users of the OS X Tweetie desktop app will recognize the left-most account overview column, and it works equally well on this platform for switching between multiple Twitter profiles.
So, while some power-users might still prefer Tweetdeck’s columns, Twitter’s iPad app is a much better choice for the rest of us. It’s clean, simple, but powerful when it needs to be, and I’ve yet to run into any bugs. Plus, it’s free. This is by far the best Twitter app out there for the iPad platform.
Users who haven’t yet updated to iOS 4 on their iPhone devices might want to hold out updating for now, though, as many negative reviews in the App Store indicate that the new version crashes on iOS versions 3.1.3 and earlier.
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Переслать - Twitter Launches iPad App With Focus On Consumption
Twitter is launching the first native app it's built from scratch tonight, Twitter for iPad. Aimed at fostering content consumption, the app is designed for new users and power users alike. The iPad app indicates the direction all Twitter-designed apps will be headingПереслать - AirPlay: Like AirTunes, Only More So
AirPlay was one of the most nebulous topics up for discussion today at Steve Jobs’ special press event regarding iOS, iPods, iTunes and Apple TV. In many ways, it’s something we already know a lot about, since it’s the successor to AirTunes. In others, it’s a mystery.
AirTunes, for those who didn’t know, was the technology that allowed iTunes users who also owned AirPort Expresses to wirelessly stream their iTunes music library to speakers connected to the portable routers. It was good, but you had to pay $99 for every AirPort Express, and connect them either with optical audio or mini stereo cables to your sound system or receiver.
Now, AirPlay will provide the ability to stream directly to devices that support it, which will include offerings from Denon and JBL, among others. Along with music, AirPlay will also stream track and artist information, including album artwork, either over a wired ethernet connection or wirelessly using Wi-Fi.
That’s not all AirPlay is good for. It’ll also allow you to stream video and audio content from your iPad, iPhone or iPod touch running iOS 4.2 when that drops in November. You’ll be able to stream your content from those devices to the Apple TV, for one, as Steve demoed today during the press event.
Here’s where things get murky: Will you be able to stream content to your iPhone, iPod touch or iPad from other sources, like your computer? Jobs cleverly eluded any mention of such a feat, which makes me suspect that the streaming magic is one-way only. That’s troubling news, especially when Google’s acquisition of Simplify Media means such a feature is likely on the way for Android devices.
Many might also wonder why Apple doesn’t just put to use an existing open standard for media streaming, like, say DLNA, that’s already got the backing of many hardware manufacturers. My guess? DLNA has received some major hate, and not without reason. Apple might want to sidestep that debate altogether, and at the same time retain tight control over which hardware partners they work with. AirPlay is less about freeing your music and video and more about a controlled expansion of the iTunes ecosystem.
Переслать - Could Cheap iTunes Rentals Change Television Online?
During today’s press event, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that 450 million TV episodes, along with 11.7 billion songs, 100 million movies and 35 million books, have been downloaded from the iTunes store, making it the number one digital media store in the world. How will its newly announced 99-cent rental program change the marketplace? It depends what’s on offer.
When we compared Hulu Plus to Netflix Instant during its launch, we found while the back catalog was comparable, Hulu Plus had Netflix easily beat when it came to new episodes of current shows. Apple’s rental program, though, draws from a larger pool of content, which could be a game changer.
Note the use of the word “could” here. Jobs announced that so far, only ABC and Fox have signed up for the 99-cent rental program. While we don’t yet know what specific shows will or won’t be available for 99 cents, based purely on studio, the below chart indicates that about a third of the content Hulu Plus is offering this fall won’t be available for rental on iTunes.
AVAILABLE ON HULU PLUS ITUNES RENTAL? 24 Yes 30 Rock No American Dad! Yes Bones Yes Brothers & Sisters Yes Castle Yes Cougar Town Yes Dancing With The Stars Yes Desperate Housewives Yes Family Guy Yes Find My Family Yes Friday Night Lights No Glee Yes Grey’s Anatomy Yes House Yes Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution Yes Late Night with Jimmy Fallon No Law & Order: Special Victims Unit No Lie To Me Yes Minute to Win It No Modern Family Yes Parenthood No Parks and Recreation No Private Practice Yes Saturday Night Live No Shark Tank Yes Supernanny Yes The Biggest Loser No The Cleveland Show Yes The Good Guys Yes The Office No The Tonight Show with Jay Leno No NBC is clearly the missing link here, and if it decides to participate in the future, that would put Hulu Plus and iTunes on par with each other. Of course, you can’t necessarily compare a subscription service to a per-item rental service; for the $10 a month I pay for Hulu Plus (which, without shelling out $99 for an Apple TV, I can watch on my television thanks to the PS3), I have unlimited access to the service’s catalog of content.
That definitely works in Hulu Plus’s favor. When the new fall season starts, for example, I’ll be watching the theoretically rentable Castle, Glee, House and Modern Family on a weekly basis. If I were renting them a la carte from iTunes, in a month when each show premiered three new episodes I’d spend $11.88 to keep caught up, and if I wanted to review them after 48 hours, I’d have to plop down another 99 cents each. Compared to Hulu Plus, that’s not a great way to spend my money (even with the commercial-free video Apple provides).
The deal breaker here is that the iTunes catalog extends well beyond ABC and Fox, thanks to its relationships with pretty much every major TV network and studio. If cable or premium channels like AMC, HBO or Showtime — which do currently sell episodes via iTunes — join the rental program, it could be a very different marketplace indeed.
Frankly, Mad Men is half the reason I still have a cable subscription, which currently costs me $100/month. If I could rent the weekly misadventures of Don Draper for 99 cents each, that’d leave me about $96 a month in savings, which I’d find much easier to use towards a la carte rentals and purchases for series and movies not available through subscription services like Netflix and Hulu Plus.
In short: The iTunes rental program might not make me rethink my Hulu Plus subscription, but if more content providers get on board, it could make me rethink cable.
Related GigaOm Pro Content (subscription required): Three Reasons Over-The-Top TV Apps Will Beat Big-Cable
Переслать - Apple Updates iPod shuffle, Brings Buttons Back
I wasn’t a huge fan of the third-generation iPod shuffle. The lack of proper controls was just not my thing. Today, with the release of the fourth-generation shuffle, Apple seems to have seen the light and gone back on itself (something it doesn’t do often).
The new shuffle brings back the buttons found on the second-generation model, but the body is squared-off rather than rectangular, so it’s smaller. How much smaller? The new one is 1.14″ high, 1.24″ wide, and .34″ deep. Compare that to the size of the second-generation, which was 1.07 x 1.62 x 0.41 inches, and it turns out to be about 15 percent smaller.
The new shuffle comes in five colors: gray, blue, pink, green, and gold. Battery life is bumped up to 15 hours from 10 for the previous model. The price is $50 and there’s only a 2GB model available, which is a bummer.
You could speculate on why Apple didn’t just replace the shuffle with the new iPod Nano, since they both have similar form factors, and I think the reason is that the shuffle is perceived as the iPod you take to the gym, and Apple isn’t sure how people will react to using a touchscreen when they’re working out.
Did you prefer the buttonless third-generation shuffle? Should Apple just replace the shuffle with the new nano? Tell us what you think in the comments.
Переслать - The New Nano: Camera for Touchscreen, Good Trade?
The new iPod nano was announced today alongside upgrades of all other iPods (besides the notably absent classic). It got a touchscreen display with the multitouch features Apple is known for. If you turn it around expecting to find a camera lens, though, you’ll be disappointed. The nano’s traded that in for a clip.
The new form factor is quite small (only marginally larger than the shuffle, in fact, at around 1.5 inches square). The 1.54-inch TFT touchscreen boasts a resolution of 240×240, which should be plenty for showing off the album artwork or even getting a look at some of your favorite pics. It could also work well as fancy watch, as one Apple exec is planning on using it, according to Jobs.
Despite the presence of the touchscreen, the new nano is not without physical buttons. There’s a sleep/wake one on top, along with who physical volume +/- controls. Ports on the bottom include a 3.5mm headphone jack and the standard 30-pin dock connector.
Multitouch features include swiping to navigate the home screen, and to return from the home screen from anywhere. You can also swipe up and down to browse through lists, and rotate using the two-finger gesture iOS users are used to. Double-tap on photos to zoom, and touch and hold to re-arrange your home screen app icons.
Shake to shuffle, Genius mixes and playlists are also all included, as is FM radio with Live Pause. VoieOver is also included, as is built-in Nike+ support. As Jobs pointed out, the nano is probably the best option for those looking for a fitness-specific portable music device.
I probably shouldn’t even dare to dream, but if Apple eventually allows third-party devs to create mini-apps for the new nano, I’ll grab one in a second. It would make an awesome feature watch clipped to a wristband, though it would be even better with Bluetooth A2DP support for stereo headsets.
The new nano comes in seven colors, including a (PRODUCT)RED special edition, for $149 for the 8GB version, or $179.00 for double the storage capacity at 16GB.
Anyone getting one of these?
Переслать - iTunes 10: Out With the CD, In With the Social Network
After nearly a decade, iTunes is getting a new icon with the release of version 10 today. Steve Jobs joked about the looming obsolescence of the CD featured prominently in the logo now that iTunes sales are poised to surpass CD sales for the first time in history.
Ping
The new icon is a metaphor for what’s to come in iTunes’ future. The emphasis will be on music, yes, but also on what’s unique about music on the web. Accordingly, Jobs also introduced Ping, a brand new social network Apple created specifically for iTunes. Ping allows users to share activity with their friends, and follow their favorite artists to receive updates about concerts, albums, and more.
Ping resembles social media interfaces users are already used to, like Facebook and Twitter. In fact, I was struck by how much it resembled Facebook’s news feed when Jobs was showing it off during the presentation. It resides right within the desktop version of iTunes, and is accessible by clicking on a link in your source list on the left. You can also access it on your iPhone or iPod touch, using the onboard iTunes application.
The types of activity available in Ping include text and image updates, a list of upcoming concerts and events, recent purchases made in iTunes, and a custom-generated top downloads charts that reflects purchases made by your network of friends. You can also see the favorite tracks of friends and artists you follow in Ping.
Users can custom set their privacy filters according to how accessible they want their Ping information to be. Ping is available today on iTunes 10, which is a free download from Apple.com. It’s open to 23 countries initially, with more to follow in the future presumably.
UI Tweaks
Other changes to iTunes include UI simplifications and changes, including a new list view that features album cover artwork for albums on which you own more than five songs, instead of just displaying the CD name over and over again. Not a huge change, but it’ll make things prettier and should make for a slightly improved user experience.
I’m curious, who’s planning on actually using Ping? Can’t say my interest is really all that piqued, despite Jobs’ heavy use of Gaga in the product demo.
Переслать - Tiny New Apple TV Costs $99, 99-Cent TV Rentals Confirmed
At this morning’s Apple press event, streamed live, CEO Steve Jobs announced a new Apple TV that’s a quarter of the size of the original box, with all-HD content (when available), cloud storage, and Netflix and YouTube access. The new Apple TV also allows content to be streamed from your computer or iPad to the television. The $229 price is dropping to $99, with pre-orders available today.
Oh, and as we reported, the price for renting TV shows in HD is dropping from $2.99 to $0.99 HD TV shows is shifting from $2.99 to buy to $0.99 to rent for the ABC and Fox shows that will be available at the outset. Other broadcasters have yet to commit to the service, but Jobs said that “other studios will see the light soon, and get on board with us.”
HD movie rentals are set at $4.99 for first-run films, which Jobs says will become “cheaper as time goes on.” The new store also includes Rotten Tomatoes ratings and cast/crew listings “for the first time.”
Jobs called the Netflix interface on Apple TV “the best implementation of Netflix yet,” though he was probably saying that because the interface is a direct ripoff of Apple’s Front Row interface.
Jobs also announced a complete overhaul of the iPod line, including FaceTime for the iPod touch. The iPod nano now has a square face and is smaller, and today’s demo emphasized the device’s music player and other features, including a clock face. The iPod nano camera has been removed, and the square screen implies that there’s a de-emphasis on video.
That just means more cameras for the iPod touch! The new version of the device will have front- and back-facing cameras, allowing people to communicate using FaceTime. On-device editing and direct upload to YouTube will also be possible.
Related GigaOm Pro Content (subscription required): Apple's Path to the Living Room
Переслать - Apple Announces New iPod touch
The “main entree” on the menu for today’s Apple event, the fourth generation iPod touch, was largely what rumors have led us to expect, and expectations were high.
As in years past, the iPod touch has followed in the footprint of the iPhone. The latest iPod touch incorporates Apple’s Retina Display, the Apple A4 CPU, and three-axis Gyroscope. The iPod touch also has two cameras, one in the front and one in the back.
The front camera is for FaceTime, which will work both with other iPod touches and iPhones. The back camera does not appear to have a Flash — market segmentation, anyone? The back camera will take HD video and allow editing on the device. Oddly, no mention was made of still photography.
What was mentioned by Jobs was that the iPod touch is now the number one selling iPod, having now surpassed the iPod nano. Apple sells around 10 million iPods most quarters, double that during the holiday season, so we are talking iPhone levels of sales. Further, according to Jobs, the iPod touch is now the world’s leading handheld gaming platform, outselling both Sony and Nintendo devices combined. To that end, Apple’s Game Center will also be coming to the iPod touch.
In terms of battery life, Jobs declared the iPod touch will have 40 hours of playback.
The iPod touch will be available next week in 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB models at prices of $229, $299, and $399 respectively.
Переслать - iOS 4.1 Update Next Week, 4.2 in November
iOS 4.1 was, as expected, announced during today’s annual September keynote, and includes a slew of bug fixes, and a few new features.
iOS 4.1 includes bug fixes for proximity awareness, Bluetooth, and performance on the iPhone 3G. The iPhone will now be able to take High Dynamic Range photos, upload HD video over Wi-Fi, and rent television shows on the go. Also making its debut is the Game Center, which is all about social gaming on iOS devices.
Using High Dynamic Range (HDR), the iPhone takes three photos: one at normal exposure, one under exposed, and one over exposed. iOS 4 then combines the three photos using "advanced algorithms" to create a single high-definition photograph. Both the normal exposure picture and the HDR picture are kept in the photos app on the iPhone, making it easy to choose one or the other. The demos look amazing; the HDR photos bring out features in the background that you couldn't see in the normal exposure.
The Game Center will be a very interesting addition to iOS. There will be both features built into the operating system, and a standalone app. You'll be able to play interactively with friends, or be auto-matched with other players. You'll be able to compare scores, and see what your friends have been up to. Game Center brings natively to iOS what several developers have been doing on their own.
iOS 4.2
Also announced to be coming out this November is iOS 4.2. iOS 4.2 will bring all of the features of iOS 4.1, finally, to the iPad, and presumably unify the platform. The biggest addition to the iPad looks like it will be wireless printing. Being able to print directly from Pages or Mail will be a huge benefit to people who still need to be able to show things on paper.
Multitasking looks slick on the iPad as well, smooth animation, and super fast switching between apps. When Steve Jobs demoed opening a link in Mail and switching to Safari, the transition happened so fast it made me wonder about the apps that have built-in browsers. Will apps still need built-in browsers if switching to Safari is that fast?
Overall both updates look solid, and while I'm happy to be getting 4.1 on my iPod touch, I'm really looking forward to 4.2 on the iPad.
Переслать - Apple Challenges Android On the Numbers
At today’s Apple event, Steve Job went after some “friends” regarding who is leading in sales of mobile devices.
Sometime in June, Apple passed the 100 million marker in iOS devices sold, and now Steve Jobs has announced 120 million devices sold. To put that in perspective, Apple sold just over eight million iPhones in all of last quarter.
Taking a swipe at Google and its regular announcements of 200,000 or more Android activations, Jobs suggested some “friends” might be counting upgrades. In contrast, Apple is currently doing new activations at a rate of 230,000 a day, with Jobs saying the number would be “much higher” if upgrades were counted. As for the App Store, there are now more than 250,000 apps, with 25,000 specifically designed for the iPad. The App store is currently seeing 6.5 billion downloads a
dayyear, or 200 apps per second.Also in the introduction, Apple highlighted a total of 300 retail stores in 10 countries, soon to be 11 with the addition of Spain. “Some days” see more than a million visitors per day. As has been the situation for years, more than half of those buying Macs in retail stores are new to the platform.
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