Jun 14, 2008 Jun 16, 2008 Sunday June 15, 2008
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★ The iPhone 3G Upgrade Question
The new iPhone 3G is a surefire winner for anyone who doesn’t have an iPhone yet. It’s not such a sure thing for people with existing iPhones. Most iPhone owners wouldn’t have jumped at this year’s model no matter how much improved it was, because most iPhone owners have the common sense not to buy a new phone less than a year after spending $400 (or more) on their present one. For the rest of us who lack such common sense and are considering upgrading — yours truly included — it’s not a sure thing. The only significant differences between the iPhone 3G and the original iPhone are the 3G networking and GPS. That’s it. Apple doesn’t publicize things like the specific CPU and GPU inside the iPhone, but several knowledgeable sources told me this week that the CPU, and most other internal components is unchanged. The camera is the same. The screen, if not exactly the same,1 is pretty much the same. Don’t get me wrong, this makes sense. The old iPhone is still, by far, the most powerful handheld computing device in the world. But the fact remains that if you upgrade, you’re upgrading for 3G and GPS and the new case design (which, from the front face, looks almost exactly like the old one). On any performance benchmark other than 3G, the numbers are going to be very close. Plus, even those who hold on to their original iPhones are going to get a nice upgrade, free of charge, when the 2.0 release of the OS ships. There are performance and battery-life tweaks in the OS that apply just as much to the original iPhone as to the iPhone 3G. It’s entirely possible, in fact, that the battery life improvements in the iPhone 3G are entirely software-based, and that, for example, an original iPhone upgraded to the new OS will get about 10 hours of (2G, of course) talk time. With 3G turned on, an iPhone 3G will have significantly shorter talk-time battery lift than an original iPhone. But an iPhone 3G with 3G turned off is now just an iPhone with GPS. And 3G is a global preference; you can’t set it to use 3G for data but 2G for voice. This is, I believe, a technical limitation that Apple can’t work around. It’s also the case that with 3G, unlike EDGE, data continues to work while you’re on a call. The good news, though, is that the battery life difference between 3G and 2G isn’t nearly as pronounced for data (6 vs. 5 hours) as for voice (5 vs. 10 hours) — presumably because with faster networking, the network is actually used for shorter durations, whereas with voice calls 3G doesn’t make your conversation go faster. So what it boils down to is whether you think it’s worth $1992 up front — plus $15 extra per month for the new data plan with SMS — for faster cell network data. The new iPhones might be using the screens from the iPod Touch. The tech specs for the original iPhone specified a density of 160 pixels per inch; the iPod Touch, 163. The new iPhone’s specs page says 163. ↩ And let’s face it that most people considering upgrading from an original iPhone to a new iPhone 3G are the sort of people who are probably going to opt for the $299 16 GB model, not the 8 GB $199 one. ↩
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Why Me?
Adam Lisagor: With the MobileMe unveiling (and that of its complementary domain me.com), it’s looking like a shift is afoot for Apple—a shift that may be every bit as significant as the shift from PowerPC to the Intel processor, but a shift in ideology whose signs may be found in the simple grammatical switch from subject (I) to object (me). ★
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WWDC '08: Mike Lee (Tapulous)
Filed under: WWDC, Interviews, DeveloperMike Lee (yes, the self-proclaimed world's toughest programmer) has a new project called Tapulous. Last time we spoke with Mike, he was part of Delicious Monster but has since moved his focus to the iPhone. Tapulous includes several prominent names from the jailbreak community (including Polar Bear Farm) and is working on a family of "social iPhone applications." We talk about that ... and Lemurs, of course, but that was at my insistence.Continue reading WWDC '08: Mike Lee (Tapulous)Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Mariner Calc for iPhone
Filed under: Enterprise, Software, WWDC, Developer, iPhoneThe upcoming iPhone 2.0 software is providing more document viewing capabilities in the form of readers for PowerPoint, Keynote, Pages, and Numbers, but Apple still isn't providing a way to edit docs on the run. Mariner Software announced at WWDC 2008 that they'll be resolving at least part of that dilemma with the release of Mariner Calc for iPhone. Mariner Calc is the software firm's popular Excel-compatible spreadsheet for the Mac.Mariner Calc for iPhone is about 80% of the way to completion at this time and is expected to ship about the time the virtual doors open on the App Store. If you like to work on huge spreadsheets, you'll love this app since it sports a maximum of 1,000,000 rows and 32,000 columns.Mariner Software President Mike Wray mentioned to Macworld.com's Dan Frakes that Mariner Calc for iPhone will support multiple sheets per document, charts, and objects. It's expected that the application will integrate with new versions of Mariner Calc for Mac. No price has been set for Mariner Calc for iPhone, but expect this little spreadsheet to be a popular purchase from the App Store. [Via Macworld]Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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U.S. Army imitates Apple to attract new recruits
Filed under: Retail, Odds and endsThey say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I'm not sure how this one will go over with pacifist Steve Jobs. According to BrandWeek, the U.S. Army is planning on opening a concept recruitment center inspired by the interactivity of Apple's retail stores. The pilot recruitment center is designed to be less intimidating, and more "like walking into a NASA center," said Edward Walters, chief marketing officer for the U.S. Army. The center will include helicopter simulators, full-scale equipment mockups, and large video screens. The centers "show people what Army is about. We want to convey to young men and woman the most meaningful benefits of joining the Army," said Walters. Analyst Richard Laermer doubts the test will succeed, and predicts that the new-look recruitment center will be shut down because of public outcry. "People are going to get mad about it," he said. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Firefox 3 UI Details
Johan Sanneblad on the nitty gritty details of Firefox 3’s ersatz Mac OS X UI. ★
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iPhone 3G Price Comparison
Gizmodo has a nice two-year total cost comparison listing the original iPhone, iPhone 3G, and other smartphones from AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. ★
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WWDC '08: Polar Bear Farm
Filed under: WWDC, Interviews, DeveloperI had a quick chat with Guy Horrocks from Polar Bear Farm on his way out of the Keynote. The video quality is well below our prestigious TUAW standards, and for that I apologize. Regardless, it's a pleasure to talk to a member of a team which has been delivering functionality deemed by many to be missing from the iPhone, such as the contact search that they previewed for us last time we ran into them. They're certainly not complaining that the announcements at the Keynote will nullify that particular application, they've got plenty more to work on. I got Guy's perspective on moving from the jailbreak scene to "legitimate" iPhone application development, as well as some thoughts on the apps presented in the Keynote. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to demo -- or even talk about -- what they're currently working on. I assume that was out of fear of the World's Toughest Programmer lurking nearby, with whom they're currently in cahoots. Of course, it could have been the NDA.Continue reading WWDC '08: Polar Bear FarmRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Following Apple on the road to rich web apps
Filed under: Developer Roughly Drafted has an interesting (and long) article that discusses Apple, Adobe, Google and Microsoft, and their different approaches to developing rich applications for the web. The article is very readable for a non-technical audience, and well-researched, too. The article contrasts Apple's mature development tools and platform frameworks with Google's new open-source tools (like Google Gears). Further, it discusses closed frameworks like Adobe Flash and Microsoft Silverlight, and why Apple is ignoring those in favor of open-source, standards-based development for both apple.com and support for the iPhone. Then it gets good. Daniel Eran Dilger writes about Charles Jolley's SproutCore, a JavaScript framework that Apple has adopted for its own rich web apps, based on a Cocoa-like model-view-controller foundation with bindings, key value observing, and view controls. Think JavaScript on Rails. SproutCore bares its teeth at Adobe AIR, all ready to show off in Apple's upcoming release of Mobile Me. "That makes SproutCore a light Cocoa alternative for deploying web apps that look and feel like Mac OS X desktop apps," Dilger writes. It's a good read for a Sunday afternoon, and will get you thinking about the kinds of apps that you can build (more easily than ever) for the web. If you enjoyed Brett's earlier video about 280 North, you're sure to love this. Thanks, William!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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Graphics Powerhouse: ATI Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC edition
Filed under: Accessories, Gaming, Apple Professional, Mac Pro, Graphic Design Mac Pro users -- it's time to power up the graphics capability of your machine! ATI has announced the new Radeon HD 3870 Mac & PC Edition. Whether you're a serious gamer or a graphics designer, this new card features 256-bit 512MB GDDR4 frame buffer memory, 320 stream processors, twin dual-link DVI ports to run two 30" Apple Cinema HD displays, PCI Express 2.0 support, and more.One of our readers pointed out that you can even use the HD 3870 in Windows running in Boot Camp on a Mac Pro. The Radeon HD 3870 runs in any Mac Pro and will be available in late June for a MSRP of $219.Thanks to TJ & Seth for the tip!Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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WWDC '08: 280 North
Filed under: WWDC, Internet Tools, Interviews, DeveloperThe guys who comprise 280 North aren't actually working on any Mac applications. I tracked them down because what they are doing -- bringing the quality and usability of the Mac experience to the web -- is remarkable. Their web application, 280 Slides, turns making beautiful, web-based presentations into quick work. It's built on a platform called Cappuccino, using what they've dubbed Objective-J (named for its similarities to Objective-C) -- a library they created which provides a highly useful layer of functionality to standard javascript. According to 280 North, Objective-J provides a web development platform that is more Cocoa-like by removing a lot of the lower-level variables that are the bane of most web developers. Easy cross-browser compatibility, anyone? 2 of the three members of 280 North are former Apple employees, working on the iPhone and iTunes, respectively. They state that 280 Slides isn't so much "Apple-inspired" as it is "good-inspired," but the Keynote resemblance is hard to deny, especially in comparison to other, less-polished web-based presentation apps. 280 Slides is still a work-in-progress, but these guys are coding hard and fast to build what is going to be an excellent application. Check out the video (after the jump) and then take a peek at 280 Slides.Continue reading WWDC '08: 280 NorthRead | Permalink | Email this | Comments
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TUAW Best of the Week
Filed under: Features, TUAW Business, Weekend ReviewWelcome to the latest installment of TUAW's best of the week, where we gather up our favorite posts for your easy clicking enjoyment. This week was definitely big in the eyes of Apple enthusiasts as it was WWDC week. Take a look below to find out what was released and the other big posts of the week. TUAW Meta-Liveblog of WWDC 08 KeynoteThis year we weren't at the keynote, but we did meta-liveblog it. Take a look back at our satirical point of view of the new product releases. iPhone 2.0 firmware will ship in early July, touch users pay $9.95Apple announced this week that the next version of the iPhone/iPod touch firmware should ship sometime in early July. Apple also announced many new features that make the iPhone 2.0 firmware something that we are all looking forward to. MobileMe announcedThe long awaited rumors came true and MobileMe was announced. MobileMe will replace the ever aging .Mac service. MobileMe looks to be an exciting new web service that we can expect later this month (or possibly early next month). iPhone 3G announcedSeems like we were all waiting for Apple to revamp the iPhone into a 3G phone, but what surprised us was the lack of a new front design for the iPhone (however, the back did change to black or white plastic). Apple later posted an ad showing off the newly released phone. iPhone versus iPod touch pricing: Say what?Erica tried to tackle a question that was raised this week: with the 8GB iPod touch $100 more than the 8GB iPhone 3G, will iPod touch sales suffer? iPhone SDK beta 7 is liveSoon after the iPhone Dev Center re-emerged after the WWDC keynote, developer's were blessed with a new version of the iPhone SDK. iTunes: Free ThursdayGet some free tunes. Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments