It's in the Bag! The Apple Tablet Computing Device

by Mark Sigal | @netgarden | comments: 26

In the past 25 years, the personal computing revolution has evolved from tethered (desktop) to luggable (portable) to joined-at-the-hip (mobile).

Via the iPhone Platform (including iPod Touch), Apple has set the bar for mobile computing by seamlessly integrating computation, communications, and media across hardware, software, and service layers.

No less integral, Apple has significantly evolved ecosystem development models by cobbling together developer tools, media relationships, marketplace/e-wallet functions, one-click software distribution, explicit platform governance, and a simple, but compelling, approach to sharing revenue with developers.

But, the pièce de résistance has been a touch, tilt, sensor, and virtual keyboard-based user interaction model that has rendered the traditional physical keyboard plus WIMP-based model (i.e., windows, icons, menus, and pointing device) as so last century, the proverbial horse-and-buggy to Apple's Model T.

The end result is that the iPhone has become the first truly personal computer; more personal to its owners than the PC ever was, a truth that bubbles to the top again and again when you talk to the 50M (combined) iPhone and iPod Touch owners.

Thus, the core thesis of this article is two-fold. One, that while Apple remains committed to cultivating its position in the legacy desktop /portable segment via the Mac, they understand that they will never be the leader of the PC market.

Two, given their dominance in mobile computing platforms, Apple will expand upon their iPhone strategy by attacking an "undefended hill" (an HP axiom) that's less hospitable to desktops/portables; namely, the bag-carrying consumer (think: purses, backpacks, briefcases, and the like).

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Four short links: 7 October 2009

Ongoing Palm Fail, YouTube Numbers, Plugin Patent Pain, Bivalve-Oriented Architecture

by Nat Torkington | @gnat | comments: 1

1. Followup to jwz's Palm App Store Fiasco -- redux: still nothing concrete from Palm, but they're saying they'll create a second-rate app store into which open source apps will go (along with apps that Palm hasn't reviewed).
2. Schmidt on YouTube -- the interesting bit for me was Every minute, more than 10 hours of video is uploaded to the site.
3. Company that won $585M from Microsoft sues Apple, Google - The infamous '906 patent granted to Eolas and the University of California was one of the first patents to get the young online tech scene going in 1998. The patent addresses third-party browser plug-ins to run various forms of media as an "embedded program object"—essentially a program that runs within another program. Eolas promptly sued Microsoft for its implementation of ActiveX in Internet Explorer, which set in motion a years-long legal battle between the two companies. and won $585M, now they're suing many large Internet companies. (via Hacker News)
4. IBM Uses Mussels as Sensor Network -- Concerned with the environmental and revenue impacts of leaks during oil drilling, StatOil sought an innovative and automated way to detect leaks. They wanted to replace a manual process that included deep sea drivers. StatOil’s innovation, they attached RFID tags to the shells of blue mussels. When the blue mussels sense an oil leak, they close which prompts the RFID tags to emit closure events. In response to the events, the drilling line is automatically stopped. And, in case you are wondering, this is of no harm to the blue mussels. (via monkchips on Twitter)

Can't Get Approval for your App? Sell the Source Code

by Andrew Savikas | @andrewsavikas | comments: 3

We just released 17 O'Reilly books as standalone iPhone Apps (The Twitter Book looks fantastic -- and as a bonus #hashtags in the text are clickable), and so I've been looking at various options for monitoring sales and popularity (AppViz, AppFigures, and MajicRank have proven quite useful), and was eager to find something I could use right from my iPhone.

I was happy to find MyAppSales, but because the App technically spiders the iTunesConnect site, it violates the Apple Terms of Service, you won't find it in the App Store. But rather than just give up, the developer has gotten creative -- he'll sell you access to the source code for $15, and you can compile the App yourself to load onto your own devices:

Unfortunately due to section 3.3.7 of the SDK Agreement I will never be permitted to sell this app on the App Store unless I rip out it’s heart and usefullness. But you can purchase a license to look at the source code, compile it yourself, put it on all the devices you like. For just $15 you can do anything you like with the source, just not sell it or use in any other way commercially.

Doubtful he's getting anywhere near the exposure as he would from the App Store, but it's a clever workaround until and unless Apple revises their approval process.

Four short links: 13 July 2009

by Nat Torkington | @gnat | comments: 1

1. IDEO's Human Centered Design Toolkit -- methodology and toolkit for inspiring new solutions to difficult challenges within communities of need. Full PDF of manual and cards available for free download.
2. Bentham and the Privacy of the Grave -- [M]uch of what Bentham meant to address in the context of his Panoptic structures we now take for granted. In Bentham’s lifetime, Parliamentary deliberations were confidential. Bentham’s arguments forced them into the sunlight. Legal decisions and statute books were accessible only to lawyers and judges. Bentham’s arguments led to codification of the law, and increasingly accessible legal rules. Bentham was far ahead of his time — the first modern information theorist. The idea that all actions of government would be presumptively available for public review did not become part of U.S. law until the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in 1967. As we speak, it appears the English parliament is only now learning Bentham’s message about publicity. Bentham was an early transparency advocate, economist, and character. I first read of him in the excellent A Brief History of Economics: Artful Approaches to the Dismal Science. (via carlmalamud on Twitter)
3. Curated Twitter Feed for Projecting Over Speakers -- Guardian developed it for their "Activate Summit" and it's since been used in two other events. They've open sourced it.
4. Android Market Problems -- take heed, all ye who would build "the iPhone App Store of ...", it's not easy to deliver a great customer experience.

The Next Wave of iPhone Apps

by Raven Zachary | @ravenme | comments: 9

This is the biggest week of the year for iPhone users, as Apple released iPhone OS 3.0 on Wednesday and will be launching the new iPhone 3GS on Friday.

The iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update provides a significant number of enhancements to the operating system including spotlight search, cut, copy, & paste, voice memos, support for landscape keyboard usage in Mail, Messages, Notes, and Safari, MMS and tethering for carriers that support these features (AT&T late summer for MMS, tethering TBD), and dozens of other improvements. The update is free for iPhone, and $9.95 for iPod touch. Just plug your device into iTunes and you will be prompted to upgrade. If you're upgrading a second generation iPod touch, iPhone OS 3.0 will activate the Bluetooth chip that has been dormant since last September.

The new iPhone 3GS includes a faster processor, longer battery life, video support, an improved camera (3-megapixel), voice control, a digital compass, and conveniently in the same form factor as the iPhone 3G so that you won't have to buy a new case. Models will be available at $199 (16GB) and $299 (32GB) if you qualify for the discounted hardware upgrade pricing. AT&T announced on Wednesday that the hardware discount will be extended to iPhone 3G buyers from last July, August, and September. If you stood in line for an iPhone 3G last summer, you won't have to wait a full year to buy the iPhone 3GS at the lower price.

In addition to the iPhone OS 3.0 Software Update and the new iPhone 3GS, there is a third and equally exciting aspect to this week - the rollout of the next wave of iPhone apps, based on the new iPhone SDK provided to developers in March for iPhone OS 3.0. This SDK provides iPhone developers with some major new features for use in apps including Push Notification Service (PNS), in app purchasing, peer to peer connectivity over Bluetooth, in app maps, turn by turn navigation, accessories support, iPod library access, audio recording, streaming video, in app email, support for cut, copy, & paste, undo, and much more.

If you have an iPhone OS 3.0 upgraded device and you're interested in trying out this next wave of iPhone apps, I have included a representative list of iPhone OS 3.0 apps below. If you know of any others, please post them as comments with associated links. I expect the list will grow rapidly over the next few weeks. NOTE: All of the app links below will launch iTunes, or if you're viewing this blog entry from your iPhone OS device, the links will launch the App Store app.

iPhone OS 3.0 Applications:

• AP Mobile by The Associated Press: Push Notification Service (PNS)
• Tap Tap Revenge by Tapulous: Push Notification Service (PNS)
• Star Defense by ngmoco: Push Notification Service (PNS)
• MLB.com At Bat 2009 by MLB.com: Live video streaming
• Sonifi by Sonik Architects: Peer to peer connectivity over Bluetooth
• Leaf Trombone: World Stage by Smule: Peer to peer connectivity over Bluetooth
• Bomberman Touch 2 - Volcano Party by Hudson: Peer to peer connectivity over Bluetooth
• Flick Fishing by Freeverse: Peer to peer connectivity over Bluetooth, in app purchase
• Enigmo by Pangea Software: In app purchase
• Light Riders by DS Media Labs: iPod library access
• My Brute by Bulkypix: iPod library access
• Things by Cultured Code: In-app email, cuy, copy, & paste, undo support
• Gokivo + Yahoo! Local Search by Networks In Motion: Turn-by-turn navigation, in app purchase
• Recipes by Whole Foods Market: In app maps and email, support for copying text. [Disclosure: My company, Small Society, developed this app in partnership with Whole Foods Market.]
• AroundMe by Tweakersoft: In app maps

If anyone knows of any accessories-based iPhone 3.0 apps that have already launched on the App Store, please leave a comment. This was the one major iPhone SDK 3.0 addition I could not find on the App Store.