Preparing to attend a show for systems integrators in Las Vegas this week, I spent part of today covering Steve Jobs' WWDC keynote address for StreamingMedia.com.
Read the details on iPhone 4 and my take on Apple's attempt to outgoogle Google with iAd and HTML5 lip service on the streaminedia.com site, but pause first to reflect on these excerpted comments that Jobs made. . . .
"Apple is not just a technology company," said Jobs. "It's the marriage of technology and the humanities that distinguishes Apple."
Echoing sentiment I've heard from Sling's CTO Bhupen Shah, who reminded me years ago that the ease-of-use for compelling products is all about the hardware and software working seamlessly together, Jobs drove the point home using the example of the new iPhone's second camera.
"On iPhone 4, it's not just a front facing camera: it's a front facing camera and 18 months' worth of work to come up with software that you'll never even notice when you want to place a video call," Jobs said.
"It's a complete solution so all of us don't have to be system integrators."
iPhoned
Monday, June 7, 2010
Saturday, April 10, 2010
And another thing . . . Adobe and Apple iPad HTML5 spat heats up
So the Adobe / Apple spat is heating up, now that one of Adobe's tech evangelists has responded to Apple's inclusion of "anti-Flash" language in its iPhone software version 4.0 licensing agreement.
Lee Bigelow posted what is best described as a rant against the license restrictions, which say, in part:
"Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs. (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)."
One paragraph sums up Bigelow's feelings, as he goes for the jugular in questioning why any programmer would support the iPad / iPhone ecosystem with its HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript-only implementations, requiring content to be coded only in C language derivations:
I am positive that there are a large number of Apple employees that strongly disagree with this latest move. Any real developer would not in good conscience be able to support this. The trouble is that we will never hear their discontent because Apple employees are forbidden from blogging, posting to social networks, or other things that we at companies with an open culture take for granted.
What is clear is that Apple has timed this purposely to hurt sales of CS5. . . .
The new post reads:
[Sentence regarding Apple's intentions redacted at request from Adobe]. This has nothing to do whatsoever with bringing the Flash player to Apple’s devices. That is a separate discussion entirely. What they are saying is that they won’t allow applications onto their marketplace solely because of what language was originally used to create them.
Later, Bigelow does use a strike-through to redact the line that says he's speaking in his official Adobe capacity.
Now let me put aside my role as an official representative of Adobe for a moment as Speaking purely for myself, I would look to make it clear what is going through my mind at the moment. Go screw yourself Apple.
Open culture proponents meet crisis management public relations and investor relations practitioners. Ugh.
Lee Bigelow posted what is best described as a rant against the license restrictions, which say, in part:
"Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs. (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited)."
One paragraph sums up Bigelow's feelings, as he goes for the jugular in questioning why any programmer would support the iPad / iPhone ecosystem with its HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript-only implementations, requiring content to be coded only in C language derivations:
I am positive that there are a large number of Apple employees that strongly disagree with this latest move. Any real developer would not in good conscience be able to support this. The trouble is that we will never hear their discontent because Apple employees are forbidden from blogging, posting to social networks, or other things that we at companies with an open culture take for granted.
Except, after posting the blog, Brimelow was forced to redact a line. And not in the typical way that bloggers do it, with a strikethrough, but fully remove the line.
The original post read:
What is clear is that Apple has timed this purposely to hurt sales of CS5. . . .
The new post reads:
[Sentence regarding Apple's intentions redacted at request from Adobe]. This has nothing to do whatsoever with bringing the Flash player to Apple’s devices. That is a separate discussion entirely. What they are saying is that they won’t allow applications onto their marketplace solely because of what language was originally used to create them.
Later, Bigelow does use a strike-through to redact the line that says he's speaking in his official Adobe capacity.
Now let me put aside my role as an official representative of Adobe for a moment as Speaking purely for myself, I would look to make it clear what is going through my mind at the moment. Go screw yourself Apple.
Open culture proponents meet crisis management public relations and investor relations practitioners. Ugh.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Flash on a Mac: Memory Hog?
Despite many entreaties to believe that the Emporer does, indeed, have on clothes, I can't help but noticing this type of occurrence happens more frequently these days:
Safari takes up 15.7% of the CPU core while Flash Player takes up 85.7% of the CPU core?
If it weren't for a 2-core processor, the warring coupling of Safari and Flash wouldn't be able to dwell in the same silicon home together.
Safari takes up 15.7% of the CPU core while Flash Player takes up 85.7% of the CPU core?
If it weren't for a 2-core processor, the warring coupling of Safari and Flash wouldn't be able to dwell in the same silicon home together.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
OtterBox Commuter and Commuter TL comparison
A few weeks ago, we reviewed the OtterBox Commuter TL for iPhone (3G or 3GS), comparing it favorably to the OtterBox Defender, which we also reviewed, back in mid 2009.
OtterBox has since come out with a set of colored shells for its original Commuter series, and a few people have asked about the difference in the Commuter TL vs original Commuter cases.
Here's a brief run-down of the differences:
Protection (outer case). The Commuter TL has an outer shell that spans the whole back of the iPhone, from top to bottom, but does not protect the sides with any rigid material, relying instead on the rubberized casing. The original Commuter has more of a slip-case design, protecting the back and the lower 2/3 of the iPhone's sides.
In addition, the Commuter TL uses a clear plastic outer shell, which protects the Apple logo on the back, while still allowing it to be viewed if one is looking straight on at the back of the iPhone. By contrast, the Commuter has an opening slightly larger than the apple, meaning the logo area is not protected.
Colors. The Commuter TL has a single-color neoprene soft shell, and the clear rigid shell on the back. The Commuter offers a two-tone option, as seen in the picture above. The base neoprene shell is black, while the rigid protective shell is colored.
Commuter colors are sold in "kits" that contain a standard black rigid shell, plus two interchangeable color options. Kits include the following options: Blue/Yellow, White/Green, Red/Grey.
We tested the Blue/Yellow color kit, with the blue options for both the Commuter and the Commuter TL shown in the picture above. We also tested the yellow, which stood out well in most situations, including being easily identifiable when dropped in a snow drift from the freak snowstorm that came through last week.
All in all, I think the color kit combinations are a great option for those who want to change up the color or style on any given day. I personally prefer the Commuter TL better, given the single-color / clear combination, as well as the fact that the rubberized sides have a better grip in my iPhone car dock.
The great news is that OtterBox offers choices in the Commuter line, regardless of your needs and color fashion sense. More information is available on both options at www.otterbox.com
OtterBox has since come out with a set of colored shells for its original Commuter series, and a few people have asked about the difference in the Commuter TL vs original Commuter cases.
Here's a brief run-down of the differences:
Protection (outer case). The Commuter TL has an outer shell that spans the whole back of the iPhone, from top to bottom, but does not protect the sides with any rigid material, relying instead on the rubberized casing. The original Commuter has more of a slip-case design, protecting the back and the lower 2/3 of the iPhone's sides.
In addition, the Commuter TL uses a clear plastic outer shell, which protects the Apple logo on the back, while still allowing it to be viewed if one is looking straight on at the back of the iPhone. By contrast, the Commuter has an opening slightly larger than the apple, meaning the logo area is not protected.
Colors. The Commuter TL has a single-color neoprene soft shell, and the clear rigid shell on the back. The Commuter offers a two-tone option, as seen in the picture above. The base neoprene shell is black, while the rigid protective shell is colored.
Commuter colors are sold in "kits" that contain a standard black rigid shell, plus two interchangeable color options. Kits include the following options: Blue/Yellow, White/Green, Red/Grey.
We tested the Blue/Yellow color kit, with the blue options for both the Commuter and the Commuter TL shown in the picture above. We also tested the yellow, which stood out well in most situations, including being easily identifiable when dropped in a snow drift from the freak snowstorm that came through last week.
All in all, I think the color kit combinations are a great option for those who want to change up the color or style on any given day. I personally prefer the Commuter TL better, given the single-color / clear combination, as well as the fact that the rubberized sides have a better grip in my iPhone car dock.
The great news is that OtterBox offers choices in the Commuter line, regardless of your needs and color fashion sense. More information is available on both options at www.otterbox.com
Monday, December 7, 2009
Vevo launch countdown, another major label added to the mix
In an article I wrote this morning for streamingmedia.com, I mentioned uncertainty as to whether Vevo (under its Universal Music Group / Vivendi ownership) will get to its goal of having all four major labels on board by the time it launches tomorrow, December 8, 2009.
Apparently, in an early morning tweet, Universal announced that EMI is now on board.
Also, Peter Kafka, of MediaMemo, stated that Lala.com went for about $80 million, rather than the $35 million he'd initially projected. He says appears Warner didn't get back any of the write-down that it had done a few months ago (writing down approximately $11 million of its initial $20 million investment).
Apparently, in an early morning tweet, Universal announced that EMI is now on board.
Also, Peter Kafka, of MediaMemo, stated that Lala.com went for about $80 million, rather than the $35 million he'd initially projected. He says appears Warner didn't get back any of the write-down that it had done a few months ago (writing down approximately $11 million of its initial $20 million investment).
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Review: IntelliScanner Mini
So, based on the potential and limitations of the SOHO small office scanner from IntelliScanner, we asked to review the Intelliscanner mini.
The mini can hold up to 150 scans before needing to be connected to a Macintosh computer (OS X 10.4, 10.5, 10.6) to have its scans downloaded.
"The mini includes media software for organizing books, CDs, DVDs and video games, wine software for organizing your wine bottles, comic software for comic books, kitchen software for organizing groceries and our home assets software for organizing or inventorying items in your home for insurance purposes like furniture and electronics," a company representative stated when asked about the features of the mini.
"The mini's software, noted above, includes the web app for sharing collections online or viewing them on an iPhone as part of the publish feature. Except for the kitchen software.
The lack of an iPhone publishing feature for the kitchen software is odd, as that particular software is able to make up grocery lists, one of the prima facie reasons for owning a PDA or pocket computer.
The mini can hold up to 150 scans before needing to be connected to a Macintosh computer (OS X 10.4, 10.5, 10.6) to have its scans downloaded.
"The mini includes media software for organizing books, CDs, DVDs and video games, wine software for organizing your wine bottles, comic software for comic books, kitchen software for organizing groceries and our home assets software for organizing or inventorying items in your home for insurance purposes like furniture and electronics," a company representative stated when asked about the features of the mini.
"The mini's software, noted above, includes the web app for sharing collections online or viewing them on an iPhone as part of the publish feature. Except for the kitchen software.
The lack of an iPhone publishing feature for the kitchen software is odd, as that particular software is able to make up grocery lists, one of the prima facie reasons for owning a PDA or pocket computer.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
EPiX's Rensing: Bandwidth Not A Concern
Emil Rensing, Chief Digital Officer of EPiX, keynoted at this week's Streaming Media West 2009 event.
While the full coverage of his keynote can be found here, one question asked in the Q&A session stood out:
"How is the bandwidth problem going to be solved," an audience member asked, "since there are threats of throttles and caps by the cable and telecom ISPs?"
"This inflection point we're in means alot of experimentation and change," said Rensing, who dubs EPiX as TV Everywhere, available today. "My baseline belief is that it's a short-term problem, because within the next decade we'll see all content available at all fidelities on all devices."
While this projection has been made by numerous players in the space, it's worth noting due to EPiX lineage (Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM are joint owners of the company) and the fact that it serves Verizon's FiOS and may be doing the same with AT&T's U-Verse in the near term.
While the full coverage of his keynote can be found here, one question asked in the Q&A session stood out:
"How is the bandwidth problem going to be solved," an audience member asked, "since there are threats of throttles and caps by the cable and telecom ISPs?"
"This inflection point we're in means alot of experimentation and change," said Rensing, who dubs EPiX as TV Everywhere, available today. "My baseline belief is that it's a short-term problem, because within the next decade we'll see all content available at all fidelities on all devices."
While this projection has been made by numerous players in the space, it's worth noting due to EPiX lineage (Paramount, Lionsgate, and MGM are joint owners of the company) and the fact that it serves Verizon's FiOS and may be doing the same with AT&T's U-Verse in the near term.
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