iPhone Archives - Page 11 of 37

Coffee Talk #392: Bigger Disruptor — iTunes vs. Napster

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, whoopie pies sweeping the nation, Oscar De La Hoya’s admission of cocaine use + adultery, or Michael Vick’s sweet contract, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Two of my friends were arguing over which service disrupted the music industry in the bigger way, Napster or iTunes. The Napster backer believes that creating absolute anarchy and making music available to more people than ever is an unmatched accomplishment. He argued that Napster paved the road for iTunes’ success and put an emphasis on being the first change agent. The Apple supporter acknowledged that Napster was the first major agitator, but argued that iTunes had a more meaningful impact on the music industry. He believes that getting the music business to change its pricing model is more significant than the free-for-all environment that Napster created. He also thinks the combination of iTunes and the iPod, later joined by the iPhone and iPad, changed the way millions of people buy music.

The arguments were interesting and I’m still processing both sides. I don’t have my own opinion on the matter yet, but I’d love to hear your thoughts on this debate. Please vote in today’s poll and expand on your answer in the comments section!

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Coffee Talk #389: Are We Living in a Post-PC World?

I’m not buying the whole “Post-PC world” rhetoric. I hate that phrase. It’s a clever bit of marketing that reminds me a bit of the term “Retina Display”. Apple, Steve Jobs in particular, has ingrained the terms Post-PC…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, why animals freak out before natural disasters, Hustler’s rumored Rihanna sex tape, or paid Android apps that still have advertising (WTF?!?), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Like many of you, I spent a lot of time reading a bunch of reactions to Steve Jobs resigning as Apple CEO. One of my favorites was by Peter Pachal of PC Magazine. While I enjoyed the piece, there was a section that bugged me. Check it out:

The reason Jobs picked this time to leave active duty at Apple is apparent. He’s done. He’s finished executing a brilliant strategy of transitioning Apple from a PC-focused company to a company that’s leading the charge into what Jobs calls the “Post-PC world.” Over the past decade, Apple’s legendary success began with the iPod, evolved into the iPhone, and reached new heights with the iPad.

I definitely agree that Jobs changed Apple’s focus and transformed it into a drastically different company than it was in 1997. That said, I’m not buying the whole “Post-PC world” rhetoric. I hate that phrase. It’s a clever bit of marketing that reminds me a bit of the term “Retina Display”. Apple, Jobs in particular, has ingrained the terms Post-PC era and Retina Display to the point where a lot of tech writers think that the Post-PC is an actual era (after the Palaeozoic Era?) and Retina Display is an actual technology. It infuriates me. (For the record, I’m not accusing Pachal of either. His article just reminded me of the matter.)

See, I don’t think of products like the iPhone or iPad as post-PC. They’re just different kinds of personal computers. They’re personal devices, right? They compute things, don’t you agree? They just use different input methods, come in different form factors, and offer a different experience. I realize those sound like major differences, but I believe that my laptop, my smartphone, and my iPad are all personal computers. They’re just different kinds of PCs. Put it this way — my laptop is quite different from the Altair 8800, but they’re both considered personal computers.

Do you agree with me? Are smartphones and tablets just new kinds of personal computers? Or are they distinct device types that should not be considered PCs? Are you living in a Post-PC world? Are you a Post-PC girl? (Think Madonna.)

Today’s Poll: Will the iPhone 5 Be on All Major U.S. Carriers?

Following the recent rumor that the iPhone 5 will be available on Sprint in October, MacTrast has posted a story that claims Apple’s next iPhone will be available on T-Mobile as well. If both rumors pan out then the iPhone will be available on all four major American carriers. That’s a potentially huge happening that could shake up the U.S. market.

What do you think? Will it happen? Kindly take today’s poll and discuss!

[poll id=”130″]

Steve Jobs Resigns, Tim Cook Named New Apple CEO

Huge news out of Cuppertino: the legendary Steve Jobs has resigned as Apple CEO and former COO Tim Cook has been named as his replacement. Jobs will still serve Apple as chairman of the board. As many of you know, Jobs has been suffering from numerous health issues over the last few years. Many believed that Cook would be his successor. Despite the inevitability of it all, it still feels a bit shocking. Apple without Steve Jobs steering the ship seems…not right. Before I get to some analysis and explanation, here’s a clip from the press release:

Apple’s Board of Directors today announced that Steve Jobs has resigned as Chief Executive Officer, and the Board has named Tim Cook, previously Apple’s Chief Operating Officer, as the company’s new CEO. Jobs has been elected Chairman of the Board and Cook will join the Board, effective immediately.

For those of you not familiar with Cook, he is one of the biggest reasons that Apple enjoys the profit margins that it does. The man knows how to work supply chains, setting up favorable deals for components needed in Apple products years in advance. For example, Cook set up deals for high-quality LCD displays years before the iPad and iPhone took off. This helped Apple secure relatively cheap prices for these goods. A nifty side effect, particularly on the tablet side, is that Apple’s competitors have had a tough (and comparatively expensive) time getting LCD screens for its products.

The reaction from the stock market has been a completely expected overreaction. According to Wired, Apple shares closed at $376.18, but dipped to $357.10 in after-hours trading. I understand that people are jumpy on someone other than Steve Jobs leading Apple, but there’s no need to panic (yet). Jobs is still around and working for Apple. More importantly, Apple plans things out so far in advance that an immediate stock dip seems a bit stupid to me. I would be shocked if there were drastic changes to how Apple does business over the next five years (at least).

What are your thoughts on Steve Jobs resignation and the future of Apple? Is it a sign of an inevitable fall? Or is it simply due to health issues? At the very least, Tim Cook will do a better job taking over Apple then Steve Ballmer did taking over Microsoft, right? Is going with an “operations” guy instead of a “vision” guy the best thing for Apple’s future?

iPhone 5 Coming to Sprint?

According to The Wall Street Journal, Sprint will be the third American carrier to get Apple’s iPhone. According to the newspaper’s sources, “Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier’s lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone.” Another source mentioned that Sprint would be getting the iPhone 4 as well.

This would be tremendous for Sprint, which is a distant number-three in the U.S. market. Verizon is huge. AT&T is huge, especially if the company’s merger with T-Mobile goes through. The gap between the top two carriers and the third is only getting bigger. An iPhone on Sprint would help matters.

One thing to keep in mind is that Sprint’s iPhone will probably not be a “4G” phone. Sprint currently uses WiMax for its 4G network. It’s an uncommon technology and I sincerely doubt Apple would make a specialized model just for Sprint. The rumor right now is that the next iPhone will have both CDMA and GSM radios, allowing Apple to have one model that will work for most of the world’s carriers.

On the plus side, Sprint is the only American carrier offering true unlimited plans. Its competitors are either using data caps or data throttling. If you use a lot of data and can live with relatively slow CDMA data speeds then a Sprint iPhone is worth a look.

Any of you guys and gals interested in an iPhone 5 on Sprint’s network?

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John Carmack Talks Licensing, Mobile, Tools, and More

Gamasutra has a must-read interview with id Software’s John Carmack. The brilliant programmer covers a wide variety of topics in this four-page interview, including Rage, frame rate, the decision to stop licensing id Tech, the benefits of being acquired by ZeniMax, the true power of mobile devices, and more. I highly recommend reading the whole thing. You’ll be a smarter gamer for it. Here are some highlights:

Why the company stopped licensing its id Tech engine:

It’s interesting when you look back at our technology licensing — it was never really a business that I wanted to be in. In the very early days, people would pester us, and we would just throw out some ridiculous terms, and we were surprised that people were taking us up on it.

I didn’t want to be in the process of supporting a lot of outside teams — because we feel beholden to not make radical changes, and pull the rug out from underneath lots of other people. If it’s your own team, you can make the sensible decision of “It’s going to be worth it. It’s going to suck for a while, but we can make our way through it.” But you don’t want to do that to other people.

Why Microsoft gives its Xbox 360 developers expensive tools for free:

Microsoft has got some pretty good static analysis tools, and normally they make you buy, like an $8,000 professional edition of Visual Studio, but they give it for free to all Xbox developers — which I think says an interesting thing about this stuff. Where Microsoft figures that, well, nobody blames them for crappy software on Windows, but they do blame Microsoft a bit for crappy software on 360, so it’s in their best interest to put more static analysis tools available there.

One of the biggest problems with PC game development:

It’s pretty sad, the fact that we have these PCs that are sometimes 10 times as powerful, and we have more trouble holding 60 frames per second on the PCs because of drive and OS unoptimalities. And there are reasons for all of them. I’ve done enough driver work on OpenGL to understand why things wind up the way they are.

And sure, on the PC, you can go ahead and you’re running two megapixels. You can turn on anti-aliasing, and you can have much bigger page tables for the virtual textures, and all this stuff. But still, if you want it to get done in like 16 milliseconds, the graphics drivers are a huge hindrance right there.

As I said before, it’s a fantastic interview. Carmack is awesome. I guarantee you’ll learn at least four things from this story. Now go read it!

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Die Text Messaging, Die!!!

I can’t wait for text messaging charges to die. (In America) The costs for traditional text messaging (SMS) are stupid and overpriced. While U.S. carriers are getting dinged for their lame data prices and practices, the charges for text messaging are just as bad, but fly under the radar. Thankfully, there are a number of alternatives that have made or will make text messaging obsolete (for smartphone users).

Before I get to those, I wanted to point out that AT&T sees that the death is near for traditional text messaging. According to Engadget, the company will only be offering one text messaging option starting August 21, 2011: the $20 unlimited package. I see this as one last cash grab before traditional text messaging kicks the bucket.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of alternatives to traditional text messaging. BlackBerry fans have been enjoying the excellent BlackBerry Messenger for years. Google Voice users have been enjoying free text messaging to the U.S. and Canada since launch. Facebook recently launched a standalone Facebook Messenger app for Android and iOS. The upcoming Apple iOS 5 includes iMessage, which is like a better and more elegant version of BlackBerry Messenger. A few of you have joined me in group messaging sessions through Google+. Those are just some of the great alternatives to traditional SMS.

Of course these solutions won’t work for everyone. Some people are still on “dumb” phones, others rely heavily on MMS, and international solutions can be a problem. I send a lot of international texts and resort to a stupid system because Google Voice doesn’t have an international option. To use the same number I have for calls, I receive international texts on Google Voice and send them through Skype, which displays my GV number as the caller ID. Until Google gets off its ass and officially enables international texting, I have to rely on this MacGyver solution.

What do you ladies and gents think of the future of text messaging? Do you think it’s on its way out? Will iMessage and the popularity of the iPhone help quicken the demise of SMS? Do you use any of the solutions I mentioned above? Or maybe you use an app from a smaller company, like Handcent of ChompSMS? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

My weekend will be all about reading and gaming on my iPad 2. I’m thoroughly enjoying George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons and hope to knock out several more chapters this weekend. To break things up, I’ll throw in some gaming too. Civilization Revolution is pretty much a daily thing for me. I’m really digging Groove Coaster too. Rage HD is free for a limited time, so I’m going to give that whirl.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Coffee Talk #384: Nintendo Dropping Hardware for Android/iOS?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, how many idiots it takes to perform a successful server migration, Austin Aries on Impact Wrestling, or not missing Alex Rodriguez in the slightest, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With Nintendo’s recent financial report and the company’s bungling of the 3DS, a lot of people are saying that Nintendo is doomed. As someone that has covered the company for several console generations, I find this amusing. We’ve come full circle! People were saying that Nintendo was doomed during the N64 and GameCube days, ignoring the heaps of money it was making with its Game Boy products. When the Nintendo DS and Wii were breaking sales records, people were asking, “Can anyone stop Nintendo???” A rough launch, currency exchange issues, and the tail-end of a console’s lifespan have Nintendo doomed (again). Funny how it goes….

One of the byproducts of this gloom-and-doom reporting is that “experts” believe that Nintendo should ditch the hardware business and focus strictly on software. In a lot of ways, it reminds me of how people used to clamor for Apple to get out of the hardware business and just be an outstanding software developer. Yesterday I read an extremely stupid article written by a writer I usually enjoy. TheAppleBlog’s Darrell Etherington wrote:

Nintendo wouldn’t be the first gaming company to stop making hardware and turn its attention entirely to software if it did change its focus to developing for Apple. Sega made the same move back in 2001, based in part on the same kind of mistake that’s causing Nintendo’s headaches today.

That’s one of the dumbest comparisons I’ve read all year. First of all, the financial situations are completely different. Nintendo has always enjoyed great margins on its hardware. Even when it was being outsold by Sega, Sony, and Microsoft, it made strong profits on hardware sales. The company has always had a lot of cash in the bank. Sure, Nintendo is having a down year with a mishandled 3DS launch and the Wii being on its last legs, but how does that compare to Sega, a company that was losing money at the height of the Dreamcast’s popularity?

Secondly, why would you even mention Sega as a reason for Nintendo to drop hardware and focus on software?!? Sega went from being part of the “big three” companies in console gaming to a middle-of-the-road game publisher. That’s hardly a success story.

I just don’t understand why people are calling for Nintendo to exit the hardware business at this time. Sure, the 3DS will not be as popular as the DS. I sincerely doubt the Wii U will put up the numbers that the Wii did. Having said that, I expect the company to make a lot of money with both products. This talk of Nintendo dropping hardware seems way too premature.

What do you ladies and gents think? Should Nintendo leave the hardware business? Or is that just crazy talk? Do you think Nintendo would develop games for Android and iOS while it still sold consoles? Do you think the admiration Satoru Iwata and Steve Jobs have for each other means anything in business terms? Should Ninten-Do or Ninten-Don’t?!?

Free Press vs. Verizon: Give Me Free Tethering or Give Me…

AT&T is fighting the “evils” of unofficial tethering. Verizon is doing the same. But who’s fighting for your right to ~~party~~ tether?!? That would be a nonprofit group called Free Press. Both AT&T and Verizon left the 700MHz auction with huge chunks of spectrum. Verizon has been using that spectrum for its 4G LTE network. Free Press believes that Verizon charging additional fees for tethering and blocking third-party tethering apps violates the FCC’s auction rules.

The organization lodged a complaint with the FCC, calling out Verizon for not allowing third-party tethering on its LTE phones. Verizon replied that it didn’t do any blocking; it merely “suggested” to Google that third-party tethering apps should be unavailable to its LTE phones through Android Market. In a press release addressing Verizon’s (almost funny) response, Free Press policy director Matt Wood said:

Verizon Wireless essentially claims that subscribers who use tethering apps are stealing service, but this argument is as ridiculous as it is offensive. When users buy wireless data service — whether capped or unlimited — they should be free to decide how they use that data. Verizon would rather call tethering a separate service and require its subscribers to pay twice for the same data. But under that warped view, what’s to stop a carrier from deciding that instant messaging or streaming video applications compete with the carrier’s own services, and consequently blocking subscribers from accessing these applications?

The good news is that Free Press is correct. The 700MHz spectrum is supposed to be “open”. The bad news is that the definition of open was bastardized by corporate lawyers and lobbyists. While blocking tethering solutions violates the auction in human terms, intentional vagueness and convenient loopholes will almost definitely allow Verizon to keep blocking unofficial tethering solutions.

I love that Free Press is fighting the fight against American mobile carriers. It is completely ridiculous that the same data gets handled and charged for in different ways. While I somewhat understand the need to reign in unlimited customers, double dipping on a tiered data system is a total scam.

Between outmoded data caps, silly throttling, data discrimination, and dumb tethering rules, it’s almost as if the carriers don’t want mobile broadband to truly evolve. Oh wait, they’re all afraid of becoming dumb pipes….

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