The new functionality that is included in the version 2.0 software release fixes a couple of the few things that annoyed me with the iPhone. I installed it last night after people with too much time on their hands found the software on Apple’s servers thanks to examining a bunch of XML files. I was in two minds as to whether or not to go ahead or wait for the official release from Apple but I was starting to adjust my body clock and needed something to do. I did have problems and was kicking myself for being impatient but after a few restarts of software and reboots of hardware I managed to restore my iPhone and update the software successfully.
Archive for the ' Apple' Category
Is it really though? Those of you who know me well enough would probably be expecting me to rush out and buy the iPhone 3G as soon as I set foot back on British soil. There’s no denying that I’m an Apple fan boy but I’m also not stupid. The next generation of the iPhone doesn’t represent enough of a change over the original version that I already own. Sure it has GPS navigational capabilities but I tend to know where I am most of the time anyway. The obvious upgrade is the 3G bit - it’s obviously a big enough revelation to even be included in the product name instead of it being simply iPhone v2 or something.
I have never found the EDGE (2G) speeds to be all that crippling to be honest. Besides, like most people with an iPhone, I use the wifi connection a lot. I’m usually at home, in the office or within range of a wifi hotspot from The Cloud or the newly announced partnership with BT Openzone.
That’s the new stuff on the hardware front far as I can tell apart from a crappier back to allow the GPS signal to be of any use. No new camera (optic or sensor), speaker, microphone or chipset. There will need to be something pretty awesome to make me upgrade to the next version too - whenever that may come be pass.
This was the best response I heard given yesterday to the question posed by one of the many bemused passers-by that looked at the queue forming for the opening of the first Apple Store in the southern hemisphere with a mixture of derision and pity: “Why are you lining up for a computer shop?”
Recently there was some amount of ill feeling directed toward Apple after they started installing their Safari Internet browser with their iTunes software update. (I also just noticed that “up to date” is no longer hyphenated in OS X 10.5 Leopard Software Update but that’s a discussion for another day.)
While this in itself is bad enough behaviour for any software company, it is not the main annoyance I have with their practices. I like to keep things organised how I like them. Like my “Start Menu” for instance.
Every single frickin’ time that I update iTunes (and Quicktime) Apple deems it acceptable for them to place a couple of shortcuts in my Start Menu, Quick Launch area and on my Desktop which I then have to delete.
Update 18/04/08: It would seem that Apple have listened to the unrest in the community.
When the University of California at Irvine built their campus, they just planted grass. Then they waited a year and paved over where people had made paths in the grass. I first heard this in an interview with Larry Wall about 10 years ago but it may well be apocryphal.
I’m seeing parallels with what could be going on with Apple’s iPhone development plans. Release a basic device and wait for the crowds to clamour for what they feel is missing from the device. Pay attention to those that shout the loudest (case in point: the recent enterprise features) but make sure that you set some of the most popular requests to one side for introduction in the release of your second generation model.
Compare and contrast to the usual practice of bundling a metric ass-load of rarely-used crapware that serves mainly to clog up the menus on other phones. Video editing and ringtone composition on a mobile phone have been nothing more than gimmicks.
That is, if you believe what you read on conference banners.
It’s only a few hours to go until Steve Jobs kicks off the Macworld San Francisco (MWSF) conference with his keynote presentation and time feels like it is actually slowing down. CES has finished and, as usual, there was a really big television and not much else that grabbed my eye. True enough, wireless power appeared on the horizon once more but Splashpower have been promising us this for several years now. So what have Apple got up their sleeves for the not-so-distant future?
From www.gocomics.com
As usual, excitement, anticipation and wild speculation have been rife. As per normal, Gruber hits the nail on the head. Inductive reasoning based on technological developments, job vacancies and patent applications is the norm but some people go to extraordinary lengths to dig up information about what could about to be announced. Coming across a reference to a “MacBookAir” in the Google cache records of Adium usage logs? Honestly, where do these people find the time?
This is what Christmas was like when I was a child before it became an excuse to simply over-indulge in everything and fall asleep in front of the television. Swap a man bringing presents in a red Santa suit for a man wearing a black turtle-neck and jeans and you’re pretty much there.
I may actually forego sitting and watching the usual website and photo updates this year, hide in the gym for a couple of hours and watch the apple.com recorded version of the keynote instead.
I’ve followed the iPhone since the Steve demoed it at MacWorld back in January. I thought that I knew pretty much everything about it but after using it for a week I’ve discovered a couple of things that I didn’t know. Not good things either. Don’t get me wrong, I still absolutely love it and as far as I’m concerned, it’s a game changing device. Seeing several friends crowd around last Friday evening and start streaming YouTube videos, browsing the Internet and playing music without any need of a hint proved just how intuitively clean and simple the interface is.
I’ve been using Leopard for three weeks now and while I am finding it an improvement from 10.4 (Tiger) there have been (and still are) some issues. In the past I’ve waited for a couple of updates to be released from Apple. However in this case I was one of the early adopters (or Beta testers as we’re sometime referred to).
This has been an annoyance for a while now but I’ve finally snapped after seeing the iPhone posters in the window of the O2 shop on Princes Street.
I was a little confused at the timing of the launch (6:02pm) and put it down to either some arcane regulation about opening times or allowing Apple to get the jump on their own carrier for some egotistical reason or other.
Then TUAW pointed it out to me (while also delivering the brilliant news that “unlimited” does now in fact mean unlimited — well done for listening to the furore). 6:02pm. O2. Frickin lame.
“Zero” is not and never has been pronounced the same as “Oh” but most people (including the nice 1471 lady) will persist in using the latter when reading out a phone number. Even James bloody Bond says “double oh seven” and as far as I can recall only Tiger Tanaka in You Only Live Twice calls him zero zero.
There’s only a few weeks to the release of the iPhone to the UK market but after several months of availability in the USA there’s still no sign of a proper SDK for third party developers to build applications for the iPhone. Yes there’s Safari and web-based apps but can these access the whole system — like camera or address book for example?
Apple may have their public reasons for not allowing native apps and others have their view but I’m starting to wonder if it may be not a little bit of snobbery on Apple’s part. Think back a couple of months to Facebook’s announcement of third party applications. Despite the initial excitement no application has blown anyone away. Pirates, Zombies, Vampires. Well whoop-de-doo. I can’t help but think that the Steve would go bat-shit crazy if anything like this was to pollute the iPhone.
What does the iPhone really lack on the software front? Obviously different people would like different things but I’m sure not going to miss the extraneous crap that vendors like Sony Ericsson insist on giving you. Kind of analgous to the pre-loaded software on a new Dell.
I can see an official Apple iPhone SDK being released at some point in the future — but not quite yet. Let the initial giddiness subside and then announce some kind of approval process for third party applications, somewhere along the lines of how it works for the Sidekick.