[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzIBZQkj6SY&w=400&h=290]
‘Nuff said.
[Via AndroidCentral.com…]
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Apple Releases iTunes 10.3 with iCloud Beta Support
iTunes 10.3, available now for Mac OS X and Windows PC, brings some of the new features unveiled yesterday at WWDC to you now – no waiting until the “fall.”
iTunes 10.3 adds Automatic Downloads, Download Previous Purchases, the ability to browse and purchase books for iBooks from iTunes, and our first taste of Apple’s new iCloud service which seamlessly syncs music purchases to all of your devices regardless of which device purchased the music.
I’m interested in playing with the iCloud sync feature on my iPad, MacBook Pro, and Windows 7 PCs (one at home and one at work). I also want to play around with the Download Previous Purchases feature because somewhere along the way, I upgraded Documents To Go on my iPhone 2G, and since it is running iOS 3.1.2 (yes, it’s jailbroken/unlocked so I can use it as an iPod touch) I can’t install the current release on it. I’d like to install the older, compatible version again if possible because I did not manually make a backup of the old software.
The new features of iCloud, iOS 5, and Mac OS X look really cool, and I can’t wait until September to have all of this cool software. At least we can get Mac OS X 10.7 Lion next month.
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No New MobileMe Accounts Being Accepted
While I haven’t gotten to the part of today’s WWDC keynote introducing iCloud yet, after seeing that there is a new Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch app out today, I went looking for what services are being offered.
Looks like we can forget MobileMe becoming a free service. She’s done for in her current form and iCloud will completely replace it. I’m going to have to watch the stream on this one and decide if I’m interested in using the new iCloud service. I would have gone in on MobileMe if it was free or cheaper than $99/year, but I’m not really one for streaming content if I have the option to download it to a Mac or PC on my home network.
Existing MobileMe customers can still access their accounts from the MobileMe.com website.
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30-second Initial Reaction to Apple’s WWDC Announcements
I was stuck in a staff meeting during the live steam of Apple’s WWDC keynote today, so I’ve gone through great lengths to avoid media coverage and my Apple loving family, friends, and co-workers so I can go in cold when I watch the video steam of today’s event.
After spending about 30 seconds on Apple’s website, here is my initial reaction to today’s news.
- iOS 5.0 and iCloud will go live this fall.
- Mac OS X 10.7 Lion will go on sale in July for $30; appears to be electronic download only.
- There is no iTunes or other Mac OS X software updates available today.
- From the Apple.com website, it wasn’t clear if there was any changes to MobileMe starting today.
Like I said, this is a 30 second impression from quickly skimming the Apple website and taking a look at what updates appeared in the Mac OS X Software Update control panel and what is being featured in the Mac App Store.You can watch today’s keynote address now as a steaming video from the Apple website.
I’ll have more impressions and comments as soon as I can sit down and watch today’s WWDC keynote address. -
This Is Why I’m Switching to an iPhone
I think that graphs say it all; HP webOS 2%. I just don’t want to sign a two-year contract and be on a phone that has such a low market share.
[Via 9to5Mac.com…]
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Steve Jobs to Deliver WWDC 2011 Keynote Address
Apple today confirmed that CEO Steve Jobs will be on hand, along with other top executives, for the 2011 World Wide Developer’s Conference (WWDC).
Apple CEO Steve Jobs and a team of Apple executives will kick off the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address on Monday, June 6 at 10:00 a.m. At the keynote, Apple will unveil its next generation software – Lion, the eighth major release of Mac OS X; iOS 5, the next version of Apple’s advanced mobile operating system which powers the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch; and iCloud, Apple’s upcoming cloud services offering.
I’m really looking forward to what Apple has in store for us with regard to Mac OS X 10.7 Lion and iCloud. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is close to a golden master (GM) release with several pre-release beta builds having already gone out to developers already. Many are speculating that Lion will go on sale in the next few weeks. Rumors have also been circulating for a while now that the iCloud service, a potential repackaging of MobileMe, will offer more free services as well as a new option to stream your purchases from Apple’s servers.
iOS 5.0, the next major release of Apple’s mobile operating system, which is based on the same core as Mac OS X, will likely become available in the next 90 days after it is formally introduced at next week’s developer event.
[Via Apple.com…]
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Wait, what? What?! iPad 2 Can Be Used As a Wi-Fi Hotspot?
My wife booked us on a low key, no tech summer vacation. What? No Internet access for a week? Clearly, she is trying to kill me for the insurance money.
Ok, that was probably was a little bit over the top, but a week without Internet access for me is like serving a prison sentence of life without parole.
So I started looking at Mi-Fi hot spot access points. I wanted to buy a cheap one and then slap enough data service on it to last me the week. While I was looking at the AT&T offerings, I came across a note that suggests that the iPad 2, just like the AT&T iPhone 4, can be used as a Wi-Fi hot spot.
“AT&T offers several convenient billing options, none of which require a long-term contract. Customers can choose between AT&T’s prepaid billing options, which are charged to a credit card account, or recently announced postpaid plans that can be added to customers’ existing monthly wireless statements.
Customers may choose from the following options.
Monthly statements: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Customers who exceed their monthly data allotment will be billed $14.99 for another 250MB on the $14.99 plan or $10 per 1 GB of overage on the 2 GB plan.
Credit card billing: $14.99 for 250 MB or $25 for 2 GB. Customers who exceed their monthly data allotment may choose to purchase another 250 MB on the $14.99 plan or purchase an additional 2 GB for $25 on the 2 GB plan.
Both options are month-to-month and do not require a long-term commitment.
The Personal Hotspot feature being introduced with iOS 4.3 is also available to customers who choose the $25 plan plus a $20 tethering option that provides an extra 2 GB of data.”
So it looks like you can use an iPad 2 as a Mi-Fi hot spot if you have the $25/month 2GB data plan and then pay an additional $20 for another 2GB data block for a total combined monthly data limit of 4GB.
Unlike a Mi-Fi puck, I know I ‘d be using the iPad 2 all the time and I like the idea of being able to go month-to-month with the iPad 2 service plan and still be able to add the Wi-Fi hot spot connection when I need to.
You can read the full AT&T Wireless press release on the AT&T website.
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Apple Launches ‘Retail 2.0’ Store Format
Rolling out across all of Apple’s Retail Stores this morning is the “Retail 2.0” make over. As seen from the picture above, Apple has replaced the paper details display with interactive iPad 2 displays. Cool! Not get-out-of-bed-super-early-on-a-Sunday-morning-and-drive-an-hour kind of cool, but cool none the less.
In addition to the changes to the retail displays, Apple is expected to deploy a new Apple Store iOS app that will allow you to customize your online order, something that is not possible with the original app.
Apple retail employees are getting some new toys also. They are suppose to be outfitted with iPads to help manage the large numbers of customers that come to the store each day. 9To5Mac.com writes:
“The new iPads are imaged with: RetailMe, Apple Connect, Apple Directory, Concierge, and strangely enough, the Easy Pay application (huge credit card readers on the way?!), as well as the standard Mobile Genius and iRepair.”
Click the Read More link for more photos.
[Via MacStories.net, 9To5Mac.com…]
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Angry Birds Rio Updated With Beach Volley Levels
Rivio’s Angry Birds Rio has been updated to include the 30 new Beach Volley levels.
The update is available now for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Angry Birds Rio for iPhone/iPod touch is $.99; the Angry Birds Rio HD edition for iPad is $2.99. The upgrade with the new levels is free to all existing Angry Birds Rio customers.
Angry Birds Rio, like other versions of the Angry Birds franchise, includes Game Center achievements and new hidden fruits to find. Once you have completed episode one, Blu and Jewel will be added to your avian arsenal.
Rovio has also released a free edition of Angry Birds Rio which features three levels per episode.
Google Android and HP webOS users, unfortunately, still have to wait for Rovio to release the Beach Volley update.
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Google Admits Android Platform Fragmentation, Vows to Address Problem
After repeated denials from former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Mobile VP Andy Rubin, the Internet search giant unveiled plans today to address fragmentation of the Android problem.
Google will be pulling together a standards board of sorts, made up of OEMs and wireless carriers, with the intention of standardizing when and how Android updates would be rolled out to new and existing hardware. The target is to have Android hardware supported with software updates for at least 18 months.
You may recall that things got a little bit heated between Google and Apple late last year, with Apple CEO Steve Jobs lacing into the issue of Android fragmentation during the company’s October, 2010 quarterly conference call.
“Unlike Windows, however, where most pc’s have the same user interface and run the same app, Android is very fragmented. Many Android OEMs, including the two largest, HTC and Motorola install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users will have to figure it all out.” “We think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day. And as you know, Apple’s provides with the integrated model so that the user isn’t forced to be the systems integrator.” (Source: CNNMoney)
The few mobile software developers that I’ve talked to in the past six months all cited platform fragmentation as the main reason why they were sticking with iOS application development for the time being. Hopefully, Google can get their act together and provide more clear guidelines on the modification of the Android platform because getting OEMs and carriers to all go in the same direction is about as difficult as herding cats.
[Via Electronista.com…]
