a multi-tasked stream of consciousness or perhaps just emails to myself
Just opened my addressbook and got this seriously ridiculous dialog…
I hit escape and it went away, but clearly something was going on that did not work out. I think my contact info has synced down from Plaxo and the system was asking if I wanted to notify everyone (no).
Technorati Tags: Apple, Address Book, Software
On this day… January 1983
Apple Computer introduced the Apple Lisa (pictured), their first commercial personal computer with a graphical user interface and a computer mouse. It had 1 MB of RAM, and was priced at US $9,995. (Hat Tip – Uncle Brian!)
Technorati Tags: Apple Lisa, Apple
Just browsing the Apple store and reading about the new AirPort Extreme Base Station… One very cool new feature is Airport Disk:
Share your hard drive
Now you can share an external USB hard drive over your wireless and wired network by simply connecting it to the USB port on your AirPort Extreme Base Station. Called AirPort Disk, it’s perfect for sharing files, making backups, and more. You can even connect multiple drives and printers using a USB hub (sold separately). [Apple Store]
There are also 3 ethernet jacks so you can use it as a more robust router if you want, though Gigabit would have been even better! I love the idea of attaching a disk or two right on the network… not true NAS, but considerably less expensive and it would be attached for anyone around to share. While this is certainly not unique to Apple, it’s good to have on board and I am sure was considered as an easy way for people to expand shared storage with an Apple TV in the house…
Technorati Tags: NAS, Apple, iTV, Airport Disk, Apple TV, Airport
The iPhone User Experience: A First Look is a solid overview from Tog at the Nielsen Norman Group on where the iPhone is likely to deliver as well as possibly disappoint. Tog also covers off some technical implementations and their source — himself from many moons ago as a prior Apple and Sun software engineer.
Technorati Tags: Interaction Design, iPhone, Mobile, Nielsen Norman Group
Just watched this (thanks John!) and realized that unlike other smartphones, iPhone applications either politely quit or are able to be minimized to such a degree that they are always running. When you watch this, there does not seem to be much difference between returning to an app (state is saved) or opening it fresh – which seems hard to do with the exception for the iPod function which seems to start at the top of its menu.
Pretty slick. I’m far too used to having to choose whether I want an app to remain open or if it’s ok that it quits when running Symbian and this looks like a nice change.
Last week I had a day in NYC and after I took care of a few matters I wandered (ok made a beeline) to the Nokia Store, as I’ve been an enthusiastic user now for quite some time. I then walked a few blocks south to the Sony Style store before heading to SoHo to the Apple Store which happened to be near my planned evening destination. Each store carries the essence (or tries) of their respective brands, but they clearly serve different masters. While each store seeks to represent their brand in a unique way, I found drastic differences in how they represent both the products and their brand experiences – not too mention how customers inside were doing things.
First Stop Nokia…
I was really excited to check out the Nokia Store for the first time. I had tried to make it over on previous trips to the city, but had run out of time each prior trip. They’ve got a sweet piece off real estate – across from Tiffany’s on 57th and while narrow is packed with technology! You can see a at least 2 of not 4 of every device currently in market – though I honestly don’t recall seeing the E61, instead the E62 was there since that is the device matched for the US market. The store design is sleek and very modern and product is very well lit. It’s easy and fun to play with everything there and the staff essentially stays out of your way so you can go to town. They have every accessory I’ve ever seen on the Nokia site, which is nice – If you want Nokia Kit, this is clearly the right place.
The store is three floors – 1- the main array of devices, 2 NSeries and 3, Vertu. It did not seem like anyone was actually making a purchase. People (maybe a dozen) were milling about and just checking things out. One woman was actively shopping, but I don’t think she was leaving with a unit. Staff was young and very friendly … though I actually had a specific request and was refused. Apparently the store has no desire to service unlocked phones (mine actually come directly from Nokia courtesy of the Blogger Relations Program) and will not help you update the firmware. I was directed to the software available for download – though as I mentioned and will repeat here – as a Mac user you are completely SOL in this regard. It is impossible to do a firmware update without a Windows PC. There was a PC there, but there was no way for me to connect and update – at least not in the middle of the store!
The NSeries and Vertu Floors are smaller than the main floor as they show a more limited set of devices. The main difference is on the Vertu floor. The only way to view the devices up close, is with the assistance of the staff. There were a few younger guys up there checking the phones out, but given the asking price (thousands) this looked more like your tourist browsing in Tiffany’s than a buying customer.
Second Stop Sony…
I’ve been to the Sony Store on Madison quite a few times. It’s divided into two physical stores. On one side, you have DVDs and Playstation stuff and on the other is the main place for the rest of the CE gear. Downstairs on the right side is more like a higher end home theater salon and you can check out all the higher end Displays, TVs and watch some Blue Ray if you like. I find the Sony store – particularly the upstairs parts – pretty cold to be honest. There’s usually a few very visibly security guards standing around and unless you really want to see something specific, is not all that much fun to browse. I like the downstairs more personally as you can spend more time just sitting and checking things out. There are even a few rooms with higher end gear which one of which even used to carry the Qualia ultra high end gear. Not one person was actively shopping downstairs, though a few of us were just lounging about which is perhaps just fine with Sony. The upstairs left side (playstation) was bustling as it usually is with people playing games and making the occasional purchase.
Final Stop Apple…
It never ceases to amaze me just how many people are in line to purchase when you walk in the Apple Store in SoHo. It’s seriously intense. The line usually wraps around the downstairs and this day was no exception. I did not stand around long enough to see if there were store employees using their wireless checkout system, but I’m sure it was in place or would be soon. There was a line to touch most of the products and people were not just looking at things, they were using the computers – checking mail, posting to social sites and blogs etc. Apple seems to encourage this and even makes their wireless network open for anyone nearby or in the store to use as well if you bring your own system to hang out.
As it happened I had some time to kill and spent it upstairs near the Genius Bar. While I did not have my laptop, I did check mail and read a few things on my Nokia 770 Tablet. While sitting there, I witnessed a tutorial from someone in the Pro Care team and was also observing a walk through in the Theater – though I honestly don’t recall on what. The Apple store as I am sure you know is sleek, yet inviting and extremely well organized so you can browse hardware and software in a very straight forward fashion, by interest as well as by use. I always enjoy browsing there and even though there’s always that line to purchase, the wait seems to pass pretty quickly.
Technorati Tags: Apple, N-Series, Nokia, Brand, Retail, Sony, Vertu
Cingular Wireless — click on to sign up on the Cingular site for availability…
While the iPhone was rumored for years, I think it’s fair to say it’s still surprising and amazing to see! What Apple has included (200 patents) is truly amazing and I hope it works as well as the flash demo they’ve got running – though I have great confidence it will.
Let’s quickly run down what’s missing…
There’s no 3G data which is disappointing, especially given the year and that Cingular is rolling out their enhanced network rapidly. This seems like a natural fit but is missing for some reason. EDGE and WiFi are a nice combo and I’ll be very interested in how the device switches between the two – Steve said it’s automatic, but did not state whether that was just for data or for calls (VOIP) as well.
A 2MP Camera is fine, though I have 3 Nokia devices sitting here that all have 3MP. The N95 will do 5 with Carl Zeiss optics as well… The jury has far from ruled here – we’ll need to see how the images look and how well images you take integrate into the photos app. There’s only the single camera – so no video conferencing on the go here… not that it works in the US anyway.
Sync — the phone is managed through iTunes which is fine enough since that system is certainly proven with the iPod, but I have to say I am disappointed not to see any wireless sync options with .Mac — perhaps when there’s a more detailed discussion on what’s coming in Leopard.
Otherwise, this is a game changer of a device!
The multi-tap touch screen will enable you to point, click and “pinch” to choose, move or resize things on screen. The screen itself is a beautiful (in photos) 3.5 LCD and with OSX under the hood the visual UI looks stunning. Should be interesting to see how typing is… From my experience on the Nokia 770, you can actually go pretty quickly with an on-screen keyboard…
The widgets look amazing and if they are anything like the desktop widgets to develop, it will not be long before we see a massive software ecosystem develop. The built-in sensors flip the screen based on orientation and a proximity sensor automatically dims the screen when you pull the unit up to talk.
I like how they showed location aware mapping with Google, even though there was no mention of GPS which is quite slick as is the desire to offer push email through Yahoo. All in all the iPhone looks like it will offer a VERY personal mobile computing experience. I look forward to owning one!
Tom Yager at Infoworld reviews the xServe and it’s nothing short of stellar. If money was no object here at atmaspheric HQ (aka my house) I’d love to be running one of these babies from my pending equipment rack going in the basement.
A few of the finer points from the review:
I have tested, and continue to run in a production setting, two instances of Windows 2003 Server hosted by Parallels Desktop, running on OS X Server 10.4.8 on a 3 GHz Xserve. To skip to the punch line, it works, and it’s as fast as all get-out. Parallels does not stretch the truth when it claims near-native performance; Xserve is capable of knocking off any two-socket Netburst (Pentium 4) Xeon server going back at least two years. Compared to Xserve, those Intel boxes eat more electricity and give off more heat than they give back in capacity for work.
Parallels Desktop is a client solution, but I’ll tell you how to deal with that. Parallels also carries with it all of the caveats and shortcomings of host/guest virtualization–in which a full OS is required to support virtual machines–but Parallels and Xserve uniquely turn some of those issues into advantages.
Consolidating Windows servers with Xserve is an edifying and productive exercise. I’ll tell you how it’s going, and exactly how to make it work for your Xserve, or for any Mac that you press into Windows server consolidation duty.
Technorati Tags: Apple, xServe, Virtualization
Today’s crazy rumor regarding a partnership (no sources of course) with Apple and Nokia essentially enabling Apple to license the N95 months after Nokia’s own release is silly, but does get one thinking.
The lustworthy N95 will be an absolutely killer device. It’s the uber-smartphone and will be the one to beat in the high end device market. My guess is that Apple is shooting more in the mass market (ala iMac and iPod) with their iPhone, Going after the super high end and high cost will make it more difficult to be attainable in the same way the iPod is and I believe that the is what Steve Jobs is really shooting for. Apple needs another big time hit to follow the iPod. iTV will likely serve to extend the iPod marketplace – an ecosystem play if you will … The iPhone will be uniquely Apple – not someone else’s tech – as it needs to be in order to remain true to the controlled user experience we all know and respect.
I’ve debated whether I’d even want one for quite a while given the amount of time I’ve spent considering the N95 and for me, the thing is going to have to really have some VERY compelling features – beyond sync – that make it worth my while. I’m sure it will be great – but insanely great is another level.
John Hodgman (Get a Mac, Daily Show) has released an audiobook for free on iTunes … check it out!
Technorati Tags: Audiobook, John Hodgman, iTunes
Lifehacker’s Download of the Day is an app called Drive-in which at first glace seems like it’s pretty slick – and don’t get me wrong visually it is. The idea is not new, archive your DVD collection to enable ease of access on your computer. Longtime readers here will recall Matinee which is still a very simple way to access your archived DVD (video_ts) folders.
My beef with Drive-in is three-fold. First, it cannot import existing files you’ve already archived. At roughly 30min per DVD I can’t see running the archival process again for all but the slickest of upgrades. Second, they claim Front Row support, but it’s better to simply just open the damn Apple DVD player based on their instructions for getting it to work:
If you choose to even try this, realize it will run $50 when released from beta. No thanks. Matinee is $10 shareware and works with standard (and existing) archival files. I can easily pass on Front Row support…
Technorati Tags: Apple, Drive-In, Front Row, Media Center, puppy
We lost power for a change last night and while I thought everything was working when I left for work, my wife ended up having trouble with connectivity and the cable box. They are not connected in the same place so I ruled that out while troubleshooting over the phone… After running through a few things and a reboot I was stumped on her computer.
When I got home I discovered the problem.
My main airport is connected to a switched outlet temporarily while some work is being done in the house and it must have been switched off at some point during the day. It never occurred to me to even check this since Ashley was reporting a full airport signal. The signal was coming from an Airport Express… not connected to anything. We use a few to extend the signal around the house and clearly they appear normal even if their home base is down… doh!
The cable box eventually decided to cooperate as well…
The irony…
I just posted about starting to use Google Calendar and moments later have received an email from Apple inviting me to learn how to sync using .Mac.
I’ll be waiting for the Apple OTA sync until I really get back into things with iCal / .Mac — as much as I like it actually. I just want easy access (two way sync) from a wireless device and GooSync can rock that for mobile devices.
Technorati Tags: .Mac, SyncML, Google, GooSync, Marketing, N73, N91, E61, Apple, Mobile, e-series, Software, Sync
There was quite a bit of buzz about the release of GooSync this week, but when I went to try it out there was no support for s60v3 devices like the ones I use… It was not actually a limitation of Symbian, but the version of SyncML that the phones support.
That’s all resolved now and I’ve been trying to get it to work on my E61, N93 and N73. There’s a slight hitch which is I have yet to receive the configuration message – sent wirelessly for the Sync Server. Once received, I should be able to sync my device two-way over the air (OTA) with Google Calendar, which is suddenly very compelling. In fact, if this works (GooSync was actually doing an update last night) I would seriously consider ditching iCal and .Mac sync for my Calendar.
Once you use a device that syncs over the air, there is no going back. Why? Have you ever not been able to leave your house while a palm was syncing in the cradle or your phone was waiting on iSync? I have. This is a slow and burdensome task and even though I’ve enabled sync for devices, I rarely use it. I get most of my info OTA from my work Exchange server and sync once in a while for my personal info with iSync — all because of the time required.
The GooSync service is a massive consumer win and I hope becomes a wakeup call for Apple’s .Mac team. When the iPhone is eventually released, it will HAVE to sync OTA with your .Mac info out of the box in order to be competitive — regardless of the coolness factor Apple brings to the space.
Anyway — looking forward to getting this rolling later today and exporting my personal .ics files from .Mac to Google’s Calendar.
Technorati Tags: .Mac, N93, e-Series, GooSync, SyncML, N-Series, Google, Nokia, OTA, Sync, N73, Apple
Last I checked, Gartner was a supposed to be a pretty respectable shop… but then I read this. It’s worth a few minutes… I’ll wait.
If Apple decided to get out of the hardware business… We’d have some seriously dull beige (maybe grey) boxes – that were built in the cheapest way, caught on fire and sent you into Dell Hell.
Apple is a pioneer in the hardware business – and yes I am biased. They were first to lose the floppy and add USB port, the first to include Firewire, the first to go Wireless, the first to re-introduce the all-in-one system (iMac) and of course brought us the iPod. And let’s not forget the key piece of their business – they control the software AND the hardware and therefore the entire user experience.
Consider me pre-ordered… As much as I love my Nokia experience, it would be hard to beat what I believe Apple can bring to the handheld / phone space. I’m far from alone in wanting this… and I seriously hope it’s real.
Apple Computer plans to introduce two iPod-based cell phone models in the first quarter of 2007 that it will initially manufacture in limited quantities, says one analyst.
In a research note released to clients on Monday, Prudential Equity Group analyst Jesse Tortora said his checks indicate that one model will be a smart phone, including integrated keyboard, video and music capability, while the other model will be a slimmer phone with just music functionality. AppleInsider
Appleinsider also reports on a patent filing:
In the September 15th filing, Apple describes iPhone as “handheld and mobile digital electronic devices for the sending and receiving of telephone calls, faxes, electronic mail, and other digital data; MP3 and other digital format audio players.”
Under the primary but broad classification, Apple said iPhone may also consist of “electronic handheld units for the wireless receipt and/or transmission of data that enable the user to keep track of or manage personal information.”
Similarly, it may include “software for the redirection of messages, Internet e-mail, and/or other data to one or more electronic handheld devices from a data store on or associated with a personal computer or a server; and software for the synchronization of data between a remote station or device and a fixed or remote station or device.”
Is it just me or does iSync generally take forever to really get going? Before I even get a percent status, it just hangs apparently syncing… Anyway to boost this?
TUAW points to a cool tidbit which reveals both GPS and Google Maps references within the latest iPhoto. This could certainly be a good indication of the type of functionality iPhoto will handle with the inevitable iPhone.
Nokia is already in the open with the N95 which includes a 5MP camera and full GPS navigation. I’m sure we can also count on the GPS EXIF data embedding in picture taken on the go and uploaded to Flickr… also built in.
Technorati Tags: Rumor, Apple, Nokia, iPhone, Google, GPS, N95
