As previously reported, Opera Software has been showing off the iPhone version of Opera Mini browser at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week. Opera Mini is a mobile browser that uses Opera's compression and server-side technology to quickly deliver web pages to your phone. Macworld explains how the browser works:
How this client-server system works is that when you request a Web page in Opera Mini, the app sends the URL to an Opera server, rather than to the destination Web server. The Opera server actually sends the request to the Web server, and then downloads the page's content, processes any scripts or other dynamic content, and compresses the resulting page into Opera Binary Markup Language (OBML). The Opera server then sends the resulting "page" -- which is up to 90 percent smaller than the original Web page -- to the client on your phone.
The result of this server-assisted connection is faster load times than Apple's own Safari with claims up to 6 times faster.
Opera has yet to submit the application to Apple for approval, but seems to believe that Apple will approve it. The use of this server-sided processing gets around Apple's restriction of executing 3rd party code (such as Javascript) within an iPhone app. In Opera Mini's case, all of this processing happens on Opera's servers and a static page is then passed to your iPhone. No submission date has been announced.
Silicon Alley Insider reports that a "turf war" has erupted at The New York Times, with both print and digital units within the company vying for control over iPad content distribution and pricing. According to the report, the Times' print unit sees an iPad offering as an extension of the newspaper's print distribution and is seeking subscription fees of $20-$30 per month for iPad content, while the newspaper's digital operations unit sees such pricing as unrealistic and is pushing for a lower $10 per month pricing.
The dispute has apparently escalated all the way to the top of the Times Building, and top executives -- presumably the same ones who secretly dined with Apple CEO Steve Jobs -- are now debating which way to go. Among those supporting the $20-30 per month print circulation side is, we're told, New York Times Media Group president Scott Heekin-Canedy.
The report notes that The New York Times is currently offering free access to its Web edition into 2011, making subscription costs for iPad-specific content of $20-$30 appear rather uncompetitive.
Silicon Alley Insider reports on new data from market research firm NPD relayed by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster showing strong Mac and iPod sales for Apple's March quarter so far, well ahead of most analysts' expectations. NPD's numbers show Mac sales currently up 36% year-over-year, double that of analysts' consensus expectations. Similarly, NPD is seeing 5% growth in iPod sales compared to the March quarter of 2009, compared to expectations of a 17% decline. According to Munster:
"While it is way too early to make a call on the quarter, we believe the Jan. NPD suggests the quarter is tracking ahead of Street consensus."
Munster's predictions for the overall quarter are slightly above consensus, seeing 2.6-2.8 million Mac sales for 18-26% year-over-year growth and 9-10 million iPod sales for a decline of between 9% and 17% over the same quarter last year.
Apple last quarter reported record revenue, profits, and Mac and iPhone sales in what is a traditionally strong holiday quarter, despite difficult economic conditions. The company reported nearly $15.7 billion in revenue for the quarter and is offering guidance of $11.0-$11.4 billion for the current quarter.
Hardmac notes that Apple has launched a MacBook Repair Extension Program for Hard Drive Issues, allowing customers of Apple's early MacBook models to receive free repairs or compensation for previously-paid repairs related to hard drive failure. Black and white MacBook models sold between May 2006 and December 2007 may be eligible for the repair program.
Symptom A flashing question mark appears on screen when the MacBook is turned on.
Affected MacBook models 13-inch black and white MacBook models with the following processor speeds and hard drive capacities:
- Processor speed - 1.83GHz, 2GHz, or 2.16GHz - Hard drive capacity - 60GB, 80GB, 100GB, 120GB, or 160GB
The repair program covers hard drive issues on these machines for three years from the date of purchase or until August 15, 2010, whichever offers longer coverage.
Apple's new program appears to relate to mechanical failures of the read/write head in Seagate drives used in Apple's early MacBook line reported as long as ago as November 2007. Apple acknowledged the reports and noted that it was looking into the issues soon after, but waited over two years before finally issuing an official repair extension program for the affected MacBook machines.
In a pair of reports yesterday, Reuters noted that rumors of Apple dumping Google in favor of Microsoft's Bing for the iPhone's search functionality have hung in the air at this week's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. According to the first report, Google vice president Vic Gundotra called the Apple-Google relationship "stable" and noted that Google has "no reason to believe that's going to change".
"Apple is a very close and valuable partner and we're very excited about the relationship we have with them today. We have no reason to believe that's going to change," Vic Gundotra, who leads Google's mobile engineering, told journalists on Monday.
"We don't want to comment on those rumours," he said when pressed on the issue of the iPhone at a roundtable at industry trade fair Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. "We think that relationship is stable."
A second report from Reuters described Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's reaction upon being asked about the prospects of a deal to bring Bing to the iPhone.
When asked about the reports, Ballmer said "I wouldn't comment either way," but smiled, and repeated the phrase when the reporter remarked that Ballmer looked happy.
Apple's deal with Google to provide default search for the iPhone has been pegged at a value of over $100 million per year for Apple as it participates in revenue sharing with Google through the platform.
Softpedia and Computerworld have noted a significant number of complaints from users of Apple's new Aperture 3 professional-level photo editing and management application released last week. The complaints, which have been flooding Apple's discussion forums (1, 2), include crashes and hangs, as well as "out of disk space" warnings that appear to most commonly be associated with importing database files from Aperture 2. Computerworld notes:
Apple's support forums are filling up with users with similar problems: When they leave Aperture 3 to import their photo libraries, their page file balloons until they run out of disk space. The system then becomes unstable. Some users start seeing their swap disk file size balloon almost immediately after launching the app.
The issue isn't universal. A few users have chimed in to say that they've had no issues with Aperture 3. That means there might be some external issues at play here.
According to Softpedia, some speculation has centered around corruption of Aperture 2 libraries that causes issues as they are put through the upgrade process to make them compatible with Aperture 3. Regardless of whether the source of the problem is corrupted databases or issues with Aperture 3 itself, Apple has apparently yet to acknowledge the issues or offer specific suggestions or fixes.
Nuance Communications today announced that it has acquired MacSpeech, the leading provider of speech recognition products for the Mac platform. MacSpeech's "Dictate" product for Mac OS X, selected as Best of Show at Macworld San Francisco 2008, already utilizes Nuance's Dragon NaturallySpeaking speech recognition engine and will allow Nuance to build on its current success with Dragon applications for the iPhone and move into the Mac environment.
"We have heard from our customers -- and from the Mac community at large -- for years that they want Dragon for the Mac environment," said Peter Mahoney, senior vice president and general manager for Dragon, Nuance Communications. "In 2008, MacSpeech licensed our underlying Dragon dictation technology to deliver MacSpeech Dictate, and the demand has only continued to grow, fueled recently by our recent launch of Dragon Dictation for the iPhone. MacSpeech's knowledge of the Mac platform and its deep understanding of Mac users, coupled with our decades-long experience with speech recognition and the popular Dragon brand, will allow us to provide the world's best dictation technology in a solution that is 100-percent Mac."
According to the press release, Nuance plans to leverage its existing Dragon branding and expertise in marketing, distribution, and research and development to drive growth of the MacSpeech line of products.
Late last year, Nuance introduced its free Dragon Dictation application for the iPhone, which has remained the #1 free application in the App Store's "Business" category since its release. The release was followed up by the launch of Dragon Search, a free voice-enabled search application for the iPhone capable of interfacing with such sources as Google, Bing, YouTube, and Wikipedia.
Financial Times reports that talks between Apple and a number of newspaper and magazine publishers have encountered several hurdles that have slowed the deal-making process as the periodicals publishing industry attempts to understand how the move to digital distribution will affect its business.
One of the major concerns publishers are reportedly having pertains to Apple's policy of sharing only limited customer information with its content partners. As the report notes, publishers have long mined data on their subscribers in order to develop marketing efforts and evolve the focus of their publications over time, but Apple's reluctance to share that information is reportedly making publishers uneasy.
Apple's practice of sharing with its partners little consumer data beyond sales volume is a problem. "Is it a dealbreaker? It's pretty damn close," said one senior media executive of a US metropolitan daily newspaper.
Publishers have spent decades collecting information about subscribers that influence marketing plans and, in some cases, the content of the publication itself. Apple's policy would separate them from their most valuable asset, publishing executives said. "We must keep the relationship with our readers," says Sara hrvall, senior vice-president of research at Swedish publisher Bonnier . "That's the only way to make a good magazine."
Another concern for newspaper and magazine publishers is Apple's proposed revenue sharing arrangement, which involves Apple taking a 30% share of revenue for handling distribution. The arrangement is the same as that being used in dealings with book publishers and already in effect for application developers in the company's App Store. Periodical publishers are reportedly unhappy with being asked to give up 30% of revenue on an ongoing basis and argue that their recurring charges for continuing content should be treated differently than single-payment content offerings.
Despite the hurdles, the report notes that the talks are "considered friendly and continuing", suggesting that deals are still likely to be made as publishers remain excited about the platform and new potential revenue streams available through it.
The New York Times reveals that Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs is about to participate in an authorized biography of his life. The biography will be written by former managing editor of Time magazine Walter Isaacson.
Jobs' participation is noteworthy in that he has never been cooperative with such efforts in the past. In fact, Jobs has reportedly been angered by previous unauthorized biographies that have been published about him:
Mr. Jobs has reacted angrily to some of these books, and in some cases has directed Apple stores to temporarily remove other books from the same publishers from their shelves.
The new biography is only in the early planning stages at this point and would cover his entire life from youth to present day.
Boy Genius Report claims to have received information from a source at AT&T claiming that the company will be offering the Wi-Fi+3G models of Apple's iPad for sale in its stores. According to the report, AT&T will be dedicating substantial display space to the forthcoming device.
One of our AT&T connects down south just hit us up with some pretty interesting info... According to them, AT&T stores will be selling the 3G version of the Apple iPad, complete with built-in display. We're told that the general plan is to convert one or two existing netbook display sections in each corporate AT&T location into a pretty substantial iPad display area.
Apple has not yet offered information about what retail channels will be available for iPad distribution. While the device will obviously be carried in Apple's own online and retails stores, the iPad could easily be carried by third-party retailers such as Best Buy and AT&T.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs noted during the iPad's introduction late last month that 3G service for capable iPad models can be activated directly on the device due to the contract-less prepaid data plan being offered by AT&T in the United States, simplifying distribution by not requiring purchasers to interface with AT&T's systems to enable service while at the point of sale. AT&T would of course be well-served by offering the 3G iPad models in its own locations as a means to spur customers to sign up for the carrier's data service.
With another Tuesday right around the corner, the MacBook Pro update rumor mill is grinding away again, and this time it's a claim from our forums that Best Buy's internal inventory system has been updated with three new Apple products in the "Mobile Computing" category. Speculation on the identity of the new products ranges from updated MacBook Pro models to forthcoming Wi-Fi-only iPad models due for release late next month.
Apple's MacBook Pro line has been a popular source of rumors in recent weeks since Intel unveiled new mobile processors early last month and an unreleased Core i7-based MacBook Pro appeared in Geekbench's database earlier this month. Apple's MacBook Pro line is also due for a refresh based on our Buyer's Guide information on historical update intervals.
Excitement reached a peak last week when whispers we had heard about a MacBook Pro update possibly coming last Tuesday were followed by a report showing Apple's current MacBook Pro models to be "deleted" from Best Buy's database, later revealed to be a mistaken interpretation of the information. Observers were optimistic when Apple's online store went down for updates last Tuesday morning, but many were disappointed when Aperture 3 was the only new addition made during the downtime.
We have been told in the past that Best Buy rarely has specific advance notice of forthcoming Apple releases, making its inventory system an unreliable source of information as the company frequently uses its own speculation in adding placeholders for expected new products as it prepares to accommodate them. One notable case last year resulted, however, in an unidentified "Mobile Computing" product appearing in Best Buy's database carrying a model number that turned out to be an updated MacBook that was announced two days later.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Apple is planning to bring back its FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) technology for use on eBooks made available through its iBookstore for the iPad.
Veteran iTunes customers will recognize the locks as FairPlay, a digital rights management software that once limited how many times digital songs can be copied onto different computers. (Apple phased out FairPlay a year ago, and now sells unfettered tunes.)
Next month, Apple will be dusting off those digital cuffs for books, according to sources in the publishing industry.
According to the report, many but not all publishers are likely to take advantage of the FairPlay technology in order to combat piracy of their content. O'Reilly Media, publisher of technical books and an outspoken critic of DRM, is one publisher likely to eschew such an implementation. Apple has remained silent about its DRM plans for its eBook content, although it is clear that control over content usage is highly desired by most publishers.
Apple's iBooks application and iBookstore will take advantage of the open EPUB standard for electronic books, but such files can also include a wrapper such as FairPlay to restrict usage of the material. Adobe has also deployed a DRM solution for EPUB content known as Content Server, but Adobe's and Apple's solutions would not be compatible with each other, allowing Apple to pursue its own integrated eBook ecosystem much as it did with FairPlay-wrapped iTunes music and the iPod before making the shift to DRM-free music last year. FairPlay continues to be used, however, on TV show and movie content available through the iTunes Store.
Popular multi-protocol instant messaging service Meebo has released a free dedicated iPhone application that appeared in the App Store yesterday. Meebo allows users to connect to nearly all of the major IM services, including AOL/AIM, Yahoo!, MSN/Windows Live, Gmail/Google Talk, Facebook, and MySpace.
Meebo's iPhone application offers push notifications, seamless shifting between EDGE, 3G and Wi-Fi networks, and automatic reconnection following loss of coverage. It also integrates with the Meebo.com web interface, synchronizing chat histories, and offers a built-in web browser for opening links.
Meebo users on the iPhone were previously limited to an iPhone-formatted version of Meebo's site.
Sling Media today announced that an updated version of SlingPlayer Mobile adding the ability for users to stream media to their iPhones via 3G has appeared in the App Store. The update comes less than two weeks after AT&T announced that it would allow Sling Media's application to stream over the carrier's 3G networks.
"We're delighted the SlingPlayer Mobile App now has 3G capability," said John Gilmore, senior vice president and general manager at Sling Media. "Slingbox users in many countries around the globe, including the United States, can now enjoy their living room TV experience on their iPhone and iPod touch whether on a 3G or WiFi network."
AT&T's announcement earlier this month created a bit of controversy, as quotes from AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega stated that AT&T and Sling Media had worked together to "revise the app to make it more bandwidth sensitive", possibly appearing as a partial explanation for nine-month delay following AT&T's original refusal to allow the application on its network. Sling Media has denied that it worked with AT&T to revise the application, noting that the company "didn't change anything" regarding the application's 3G streaming capabilities between AT&T's initial denial last year and its recent change of heart.
As predicted, Microsoft today unveiled Windows Phone 7, the next-generation smartphone operating system serving as the successor to and rebranding of the company's Windows Mobile software. One of the software's key features is the use of integrated "hubs", offering content views based on content rather than specific applications. Hubs will include People, Pictures, Games, Music+Video, Marketplace, and Office.
Windows Phone 7 "People" hub
In addition, "live tiles" on the system's Start screen will offer real-time information updates, and a dedicated hardware button will provide one-click access to Bing search tools.
With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated "live tiles" show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend's latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.
A number of handset manufacturers and carriers have committed to the Windows Phone 7 Series platform, and the first handsets based on the operating system are scheduled to become available in "holiday 2010".
Samsung Wave
Samsung yesterday also announced the Samsung Wave, the first handset to be based on the company's own bada platform. The Wave offers an 800x480 active-matrix OLED screen, 5-megapixel camera, Samsung's revised TouchWiz 3.0 user interface, and 2 GB of internal storage with a microSD slot allowing for up to an additional 32 GB.
The Samsung Wave offers a Super AMOLED 3.3" display that makes the screen truly come alive, a Social Hub to bring you closer to your contacts and connections, and TouchWiz 3.0 for an intuitive and hugely customizable user interface. The Wave's high-speed CPU ensures swift, smooth application experiences and multi-tasking, making the device an always-on mobile multimedia companion. The Samsung Wave has been built to offer users an unrivalled level of performance, customization and choice in how they connect with their world. The stunning full touch mobile will be available globally from April 2010.
At Macworld, iTouch Gloves (left) and Telefingers (right) both offered solutions for using the iPhone's capacitive touch screen while wearing gloves. iTouch Gloves offer high end leather glove styles that start at $99.95.. They offer a variety of styles in both women's and men's styles.
Telefingers' solution is quite a bit less stylish but also much cheaper. For only $15 a pair, you can get a thinner (non-leather) pair gloves with specialized tips that allow you to control your iPhone screen. Either way, it's better than using sausages.
Xserve Racking Solution
Electrorack offers a wide variety of server racking solutions, but this one caught our eye. It's a rack enclosure for Xserves and RAID configurations that happens to styled like an oversized Mac Pro.
SurfaceSound in Your Helmet
TuneBug has been offering its SurfaceSound solution Vibe for some time already. Vibe is a small device that takes an audio source and turns any surface into a speaker. TuneBug has taken this same concept and applied it to both Bike and Snow/Skateboard helmets.
Shake connects via Bluetooth to your iPhone and then transmits sound waves throughout your helmet, letting you listen to your favorite tunes without headphones. Shake is expected to ship in April for $119.95.
U-Socket - USB Power in Your Wall
Fastmac claims this is the first of it kind due to some regulatory issues they had to clear. The U-Socket allows you to have a wall plate with both USB and regular power outlets. No more hunting for your USB->Power dongle, just plug your USB cable straight into the wall. U-Socket can be installed on any existing wall socket. The price is $19.95 now, but normally $29.95.
If you've been missing a way to watch live television on your iPhone, Mophie and FloTV have teamed up to provide just that solution in the next couple of months. FloTV is a new wireless TV service that has been put in place across the U.S. It provides 18 channels of television service with broad coverage.
In order to achieve this on the iPhone, Mophie has integrated the FloTV chips into one of their iPhone battery packs (Juice Pack TV) (not pictured above). The FloTV application will be a free download from the App Store and will interface with the FloTV chips using Wi-Fi. The end result should be live TV viewing from your iPhone as well as additional battery power from the Juice Pack TV.
Square - Mobile Credit Card Processing
Square UP was showing their new credit card processing solution for the iPhone. They are planning on offering a no-hassle way for individuals to start accepting credit card payments. Simply buy their $1 app from the App Store, sign up for service, and they will send you a small hardware dongle that will swipe credit cards (shown right). No individual merchant account is required as Square UP handles all the processing and payments and takes a 2.9% cut of all sales.
The Square service is currently in beta testing and should arrive later this year.
iV Plus - Universal Remote, Camera Flash and Battery Pack
FastMac showed of their latest creation at Macworld. The iV Plus is a combination case, IR Remote, Flash LED, and Battery Pack. The enclosure wraps around the iPhone like a case much like the other battery solutions available, but the inclusion of the IR port and Flash LED add a significant amount of functionality.
FastMac will also be providing free Universal Remote software to work in conjunction with the case. The software allows you to customize your remote settings and a more advanced paid version will include live TV guide with show searching support. Meanwhile, support for the Flash LED is also coming in the form of a free camera app that will snap a picture and also trigger the flash.
The iV Plus is expected to ship in Q2 for $130.
Navigon MobileNavigator 1.5 - Integration with Other Apps
Panorama View (left), MyRoutes (right)
Navigon was out showing off its upcoming 1.5 update to its MobileNavigator turn-by-turn guidance software. The update is due in March and brings several new features:
- Panorama View 3D: NASA sourced elevation data to provide 3D views of the landscape - MyRoutes: Gives you up to 3 alternative routes with different route recommendations based on current traffic conditions as well as your personal driving profile. - Facebook and Twitter Integration: broadcast where you are and where you're going.
Also announced was a new OpenAPI "Appinteract" for Navigon's software that will allow other App Store developers to pass destinations directly to MobileNavigator. For example, if a restaurant is found within iPhone App Where To?, a single tap can launch and initiate routing within MobileNavigator. The actual data is simply passed as a specialized URL, so the implementation should be simple for developers, but is much more convenient to the end user. The 1.5 update to MobileNavigator should arrive in March.
One of the big new announcements at Macworld was Tell Tale Games' release of a Mac version of Tales of Monkey Island available immediately. The company has also committed to delivering Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures, Strong & Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People, and Sam & Max to the Mac. The next game to be released is up for user vote.
Tales of Monkey Island is a 3D graphic adventure game based on the classic title Secret of Monkey Island and originally released for PC and WiiWare in 2009. Tales represents the 5th in the Monkey Island series and is the only modern version that has become available for the Mac.
Want to use your 27" iMac as an HDTV? Kanex was showing off their HDMI to mini Display Port adapter that lets you connect your Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Blu-ray players to your 27" iMac. Both video and audio are transmitted across at a resolution up to 1920x1200. The retail price for the device will be $149 and its expected for release in the next couple of months.
Wireless USB A/V Adapter
That is a MacBook screen being shown on a HDTV wirelessly. Wisair announced Mac support for their wireless USB DisplayDock at Macworld.
The Wireless USB DisplayDock Set allows you to easily connect your MacBook using a single USB adapter. Both wireless audio and video are transmitted at up to 1440x1050 screen resolution. The wireless base station that connects to your TV supports VGA, HDMI, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The Windows version of the device is shown on the website, and is sold at retailers under a variety of brands. The hardware is identical for the PC and Mac, but the official Mac drivers won't be here until the end of March. Those drivers should become available on the manufacturer's pages, or you can wait until a Mac-packaged version becomes available in about April.
