 |  TheAppleBlog — Apple and iOS News, Tips and Reviewshttp://gigaom.com рекомендовать друзьям >> |
- Apple could kill the finder. Would you miss it?
At the WWDC keynote this week, Steve Jobs remarked that when trying to teach someone how to use a Mac, “everything’s going along fine until you hit the file system, and then the difficulty is staggering for most people.” I remember having my own difficulties understanding file systems back when I was a computer neophyte, and I’m sure others would agree.
On iOS, this learning curve is non-existent, as it has no file manager. Instead, apps use a “library” metaphor, where each app is responsible for presenting its own documents. For example, when you launch Pages for iOS, you get a view of all your documents, so you can swipe through and choose one to edit.
Pages for iPad uses a library to display its documents.
But how can Apple make file management easier on the Mac? Truth is, it has been laying the groundwork for years. The iLife suite, iTunes, and Photo Booth have used the library system since the beginning, and I suspect a new version of iWork will come out that does the same. Apple is furthering this groundwork with Lion; Auto Save, Versions, and Launchpad are all designed to be easier alternatives to using the Finder. AirDrop, the new simple local file sharing tool, is also part of the transition, even though it’s integrated into the Lion Finder. All Apple has to do is take it out of the Finder, and integrate it into each app’s library.
Another piece of the puzzle is iCloud, which makes syncing files across multiple devices easy, requiring no intervention on the user’s part. iCloud has the potential to make drag ‘n’ drop file management a thing of the past. No more copying that important Keynote presentation from one Mac to another with the Finder; With iCloud, it’ll already be there.
It follows that in the future, we could see a Mac OS where there is no Finder, and none of the complexities that come with it. When you want to work with a document, you’ll just fire up the app that’s associated with it and select it from the library. Shared libraries could work between apps, too, like they do now with iPhoto and other Apple apps. There won’t be any need to save files, or launch applications with the Finder; the OS will take care of that for you.
All this isn’t to say that it’ll be easy for Apple to replace the Finder. There are still questions that remain unanswered. For instance, how Apple would deal with downloads or the Desktop folder. Despite this, I have little doubt that Apple will continue to move us towards a Finder-less future. The gains in terms ease of use are simply too great for Apple to pass up.
What are your thoughts? Should Apple ditch the finder, or are the compromises required too great?
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):
- Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T
- A Media Tablet Forecast, 2011 – 2015
- A Global Mobile Handset Platform Forecast, 2011 – 2015
Переслать - How developers will be able to leverage iCloud for smarter apps
One of the popular soundbites from Steve Jobs’ keynote at this week’s WWDC was “the truth is in the cloud.” Some have suspected Jobs of adopting metaphysical hyperbole in pitching Apple’s new iCloud service, but the ”truth” of the matter (sorry) is a bit more nuanced. Jobs was using “truth” both to make an insider’s reference to an old Apple technology, and also to look forward to brand new technology in iCloud.
Truth as used here has an inside technical meaning — the master or “truth” database in a distributed data system is the authoritative record for resolving conflicts. The master store in Apple’s existing Sync Services is the “truth database.” Here’s an image from Apple’s public documentation for Sync Services that illustrates the term.
In the existing Mac-centric sync model, the truth database is stored on the computer. Applications that want to interact with Sync Services don’t talk directly to the underlying database itself, but rather communicate through the Sync Engine, part of Mac OS X, which maintains the integrity, or truth, of the authoritative master data.
The other side to the “truth in the cloud” comment is that iCloud is more than just online document storage. Jobs made reference to this on Monday, saying:
Some people think the cloud is just a hard disk in the sky. We think it’s way more than that. iCloud is integrated with your apps, so everything happens automatically. It just works.
After a demonstration of iWork apps saving documents to the cloud, Jobs quickly added that iCloud Storage APIs would also include key value data. If Apple follows some of the existing conventions of Sync Services, developers would not interact directly with the master store, but would rely on system-level services, the APIs, to maintain the integrity of the cloud data. These system services will remove a tremendous burden from developers, making it much simple to integrate iOS apps with iCloud.
Syncing key-value pairs is also more flexible than syncing documents, and perfectly suited for several common uses. For example, to keep track of which levels are unlocked in a game like Angry Birds, the developer could update the key-value pair for each level independently from the others. In this scenario, the key might be the level id (“world-3-2″), and the value would be “locked” or “unlocked” as appropriate. It is simpler to fast sync just the one key-value pair that has changed instead of updating the entire settings file each time. This key-value pair approach also makes it much easier for developers to avoid situations where updating settings on one device would overwrite or erase all the settings on another device.
Some might be skeptical since Sync Services has suffered from a number of issues like mistaken duplication of contacts and calendar events. Jobs poked fun at Apple’s missteps with their previous cloud efforts when he said joked that users might ask “why should I believe them? They’re the ones that brought me MobileMe,” but he continued finished by admitting that while “it wasn’t [Apple's] finest hour,” the company “learned a lot.” Apple will have to put all of that learning to use to build a rock-solid online key-value store that can deal with billions of transactions coming from hundreds of millions of devices. That learning will be especially important when safe-guarding all that customer data in the key-value store.
Key-value stores have gained a lot of recent attention in web development circles because they offer a flexible, and fast, way to access small bits of data like user preferences. Solutions like MongoDB, Redis, Tokyo Cabinet, Memcache, Hadoop, MapReduce, Cassandra, Google’s BigTable , and Amazon’s Dynamo are all examples of web-friendly datastores that work with key-value pairs. Derrick Harris, over on our Structure channel, broke down how some of these technologies are being used to power the gear in Apple’s new data center, and highlighted a job listing which called for experience with key-value store technologies like Hadoop, Memcache and Cassandra.
iCloud is not just about online document storage, but a whole infrastructure for syncing data and preferences with an online key-value store — a new Sync Services built around the idea of keeping the truth database in the cloud instead of on a computer. The cloud is the new center of the Apple universe, in other words.
A ‘key’ difference (again, so sorry) between iCloud and other key-value stores is that Apple is focused on providing infrastructure for native iOS and Mac apps while others are working on platforms for web apps that run in the browser. Apple wants to make things “just work” for iOS apps without placing unnecessary burdens on developers as they incorporate iCloud services. This tension between open and fragmented and closed and integrated, which we’ve already seen in the Android and iPhone platforms, is being played out again here. But the fight is a good one for consumers, since it should lead to ever-better apps that test the limits of what we thought we could do with mobile devices.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):
- Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T
- A Media Tablet Forecast, 2011 – 2015
- A Global Mobile Handset Platform Forecast, 2011 – 2015
Переслать - Is Apple tapping Amazon and Microsoft to boost iCloud?
Apple entered into the cloud services arena with a bang with the launch of iCloud at the Worldwide Developer Conference in San Francisco this week. But according to a recent post at the InfiniteApple blog, Apple appears may be getting a little help from its frenemies in getting iCloud off the ground.
An anonymous tipster sent a series of screenshots to InfiniteApple earlier this week. The screenshots (embedded at the bottom of this post) purportedly show the HTTP traffic logged when an image is sent through Apple’s new iMessage service. The Infinite Loop post says the data may indicate that iCloud is utilizing Amazon’s cloud storage system S3 and Microsoft’s Azure cloud service to assist in delivering the message.
Does this mean that the photos of the new 500,000 square foot data center Steve Jobs showed off during the WWDC keynote are just a front? Not necessarily. We ran the screenshots by three networking and cloud experts at major companies. All three said that the screenshots did not conclusively show how iCloud was utilizing the Amazon and Microsoft technologies, if at all.
Two sources said that the log could simply show that the image sent over iMessage was itself initially hosted on Azure or Amazon. A third source said Apple may be using Azure and AWS for content delivery network (CDN) purposes. That would mean that the files are ultimately hosted on Apple servers, but Apple is caching copies of some data on strategically placed CDN servers run by Azure and Amazon’s CloudFront to help speed up delivery. In other words, Apple could be leveraging cloud services from Amazon and Microsoft for short-term iCloud caching to boost speed and reliability — not because its own servers are incapable of handling the content.
Utilizing CDNs is a very common practice even at the highest levels, the third source added. Apple itself has a history of using CDNs, but mostly Akamai and Limelight to help serve media content such as iTunes. If anything, the big scandal here is not that Apple is using third-party cloud services to run iCloud, but that it’s opted to use Microsoft and Amazon’s offerings instead of its longtime partners.
But again, we ultimately did not turn up any slam-dunk verdict on exactly how iCloud is using AWS and Azure, if at all. If you have any insight, please chime in via the comments. And to learn more about clouds, CDNs and networking, please attend our Structure 2011 conference on June 22 and 23 in San Francisco.
Screenshots sourced from InfiniteApple.net
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):
- The Structure 50: The Top 50 Cloud Innovators
- Infrastructure Q1: IaaS Comes Down to Earth; Big Data Takes Flight
- How Amazon’s Cloud Failure Could Affect Consumer Behavior
Переслать - Apple's next MacBook Air will be the new flagship Mac
Apple’s refresh of the MacBook Air last fall did much to improve the fortunes of the company’s ultra-slim notebook. With its next iteration, it could be getting ready to step into the spotlight as the quintessential Mac computer. That update is on the way soon, according to a new report, and I’d be surprised if we didn’t see it arrive right alongside the operating system that seems tailor-made for it: OS X Lion.
AppleInsider claims Apple has placed an order for nearly 400,000 new MacBook Airs based on Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor architecture, and that production will begin in June, according to an analyst report. The reports claim that just over half of those will be 11.6-inch models, since those are slightly more popular with consumers than their 13-inch counterparts. Both models have reportedly been successful sellers for Apple, in stark contrast to the original Air, which was seen by most as too expensive and too far ahead of the curve in terms of its hardware features.
If interest in and reviews of the new MacBook Air are any indication, we’ve caught up to the curve. But Apple has also done right by Air in terms of finding an attractive price point: The entry-level 11.6-inch model starts at just $999, on par with Apple’s other cheapest notebook, the MacBook.
The MacBook represents Apple’s past; it’s a well-designed traditional notebook that provides users looking for an alternative to Windows laptops with a solid, high-quality, OS X-based alternative. But the MacBook Air represents Apple’s future. It’s a slim, lightweight device with a futuristic design aesthetic, but more importantly, it’s a perfect partner for OS X Lion and iCloud, and like Apple said at its WWDC keynote (as enStratus CTO George Reese suggested to me it should), iCloud is the new center of the Apple universe.
When the updated MacBook Air arrives, it will most likely bring better Core i-series processors that should help it gain even more ground on more powerful Mac notebook offerings, since the current versions use Intel Core 2 Duo chips, which are two generations behind. It will also almost certainly introduce Thunderbolt ports to the Air. Thunderbolt will be a great addition to the Air, since once third-party storage device makers start putting out more compatible drives, it will help alleviate any concerns users might have about onboard storage limitations. Apple might also boost the base storage capacities this time around, as it has already quietly made improvements to the Air’s SSD drives that boost read/write speeds.
The MacBook Air has more in common with the iPad than any other of Apple’s Mac computers, and that’s why it’s such a perfect partner for the iOS-inspired OS X Lion update. I said yesterday that Lion isn’t going to play nice with older Macs, and won’t really shine to its fullest potential on computers with spinning hard disks. In fact, you could say that Lion is designed for the Air, and I think that’s exactly how Apple sees it, too.
In two years time, if not less, when you think “Mac,” you’ll think about the MacBook Air first and foremost. And that’s by design, as Apple continues to have outsized influence in the changing definition of personal computing.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):
- The Case for Increased M&A in 2011: Actions and Outlooks
- The Structure 50: The Top 50 Cloud Innovators
- How Amazon’s Cloud Failure Could Affect Consumer Behavior
Переслать - You wanted apps on your Apple TV? Apple delivers with AirPlay Mirroring
Since the second-generation Apple TV was released back in September of last year, people have wondered if and when apps would arrive on the device. After all, it runs on iOS software, so the underpinnings of app support are already present. But Apple hasn’t opened up the Apple TV to third-party developers; or at least it hadn’t before it unveiled iOS 5 on Monday.
iOS 5 doesn’t bring native support for apps on the Apple TV, but it does introduce AirPlay Mirroring for the iPad 2. Mirroring is a feature that was introduced alongside the iPad 2. It allowed users to display exactly what was on their tablet on an external display, too, using the Digital AV Adapter Apple released that provides an HDMI connection for video and audio out. When it was announced, I said the mirroring ability was the iPad 2′s killer feature. That’s even more true now that Apple has promised to make the technology wireless.
I’ve had a chance to go hands-on with AirPlay Mirroring, and it works as advertised. Once you select your Apple TV as an output source in the multitasking menu bar, everything you do on your iPad will be transmitted to your Apple TV–connected display. Even in this early beta form, it works remarkably well, with very little lag time and without any interruptions in the connection during my test. It does seem to be fairly taxing on the iPad’s battery, but by no means to such an extent that it affects the usefulness of the experience.
It does require that users have both an iPad 2 and an Apple TV in order to work, however. The cost of the Digital AV Adapter from Apple’s retail store is $39, but the Apple TV is itself only $99. That’s still just shy of $100, and even basic wireless video transmitters that don’t provide any additional functionality start at around $80.
Note also that while the home screen and most apps display in the 4:3 aspect ratio of the iPad 2′s screen (or in 3:4 when viewing in portrait orientation), full-screen video outputted to the AirPlay-connected TV automatically adjusts to fill the screen if it is formatted for widescreen. Developers can also specifically tell their apps to adjust to a widescreen aspect ratio, as Firemint has done with Real Racing 2 HD, which it has announced will support HD wireless output in iOS 5.
iCloud may be hogging the tech press spotlight, but AirPlay is Apple’s big play in the living room, and it’s one of the most significant and potentially disruptive new technologies the company has introduced in a long time. iOS 4.3 brought third-party developers access to AirPlay video streaming, a major step in attracting consumer attention to the tech. Now, with AirPlay mirroring, Apple will completely change the way users and the market think about its Apple TV relaunch. With the help of Apple TV, the iPad 2, and future Apple mobile devices that support it, AirPlay Mirroring could become the Google TV that actually works for consumers, and one that users can easily take with them.
Related content from GigaOM Pro (subscription req'd):
- The Set-top Is Dead! Long Live the Set-top!
- Connected Consumer Q1: The Over-the-Top vs. Pay TV Battle Heats Up
- Mobile Q1: All Eyes on Tablets, T-Mobile and AT&T
Переслать
 | Интернет-инструменты для малого бизнеса Практические приемы интернет-маркетинга. Saas-решения для малого бизнеса. Опыт малого бизнеса . Присоединиться → |
| rss2email.ru |
| rss2email.ru | отписаться: http://www.rss2email.ru/unsubscribe.asp?c=6893&u=24004&r=311667163 управление подпиской: http://www.rss2email.ru/manage.asp партнерская программа: http://partner.rss2email.ru/?pid=1 |
