Apple’s event today unveiled some fantastic looking new products such as all new iPod designs (with a huge iPod Touch update), new Apple TV (again, a huge update), iOS 4.1 & 4.2, iTunes 10 (with Ping social network) and more.
With the iPod nano converting to touch-screen and there being no mention of the iPod Classic, it looks as though the death of the revolutionary scroll-wheel will be coming soon. The iPod Classic is still available and will likely still be available for those who need big-storage for a while, but it’s clear it isn’t a focal point at Apple now, which is understandable considering the number one iPod is the iPod Touch.
Side-note: Some people have mentioned that the new iPod nano is ugly, I don’t agree and even though there is some regression in terms of features, such as video have been removed, I think on a whole it is a step forward. With that said, the previous iPod nano is more attractive, and now you can pick one up cheaper! Stop complaining.
Although a minority, there is still a group of people who want their iPhone experience tainted with Adobe Flash, so that they can view annoying banner adverts and watch videos buffer for 20 minutes.
HTML5 (especially for video) should be the way forward simply because, unlike Flash, it doesn’t feel like you’re wading yourself through tar. If Flash is like a dog when used on desktops, then surely on mobile platforms the problems are only going to be magnified?
I know Flash works on the Android, and it does so very poorly (it’s worth clicking the link just to see how bad it is).
Surely the fact that I have to tediously force-quit the Flash process so often on my Mac, or that loading a full screen Flash video requires 2 minutes of the spinning wheel of deathis an indication of it being an inherently flawed and poor quality product (at least for the Mac)?
How can Adobe have the cheek to complain about its exclusion from the iOS platform or the promotion of better HTML5 alternatives when they refuse to make the Flash experience adequate? What is more astonishing is the fact that there are some Mac users that still jump to the defence of the sluggish dying technology.
It is contradictory for someone to spend money and care so much about quality in buying a Mac and then to defend a product like Flash being used on the platform.
A solution is to remove Flash completely, but since some sites still insist on using the technology, the better option may be to use a Safari extension to disable Flash selectively (whitelisting allowed sites) and use HTML5 video instead (such as on YouTube). This can be done with Broken Box (which I have recommended before).
Sidenote:YouTube offers an experimental native HTML5 version of its video player but it is incompatible with some videos (such as those with annotations or advertisements). Broken Box includes an optional HTML5 video via QuickTime.
YouTube (Google) has released a new tantalising mobile web app version of its website aimed at modern mobile phones.
The old website was geared towards those clunky brick-like phones with the numeric keypads and the obscenely tiny screens. Now, however, phones are generally touch-based portable computers with ‘full internet’ and so a need for a more advanced website was satisfied with the release of this long overdue web app.
What is interesting is that the web application is enhanced for the iPhone(with a prompt telling you to save the site to the home screen). Apple has provided a native YouTube application on its iOS (and previous iPhone OS) since the very beginning and now it looks like YouTube wants to take control. After all, Apple’s native application is lacking many of the newYouTube features and hasn’t adapted to the changes on the site.
I prefer the stability and consistency of a native application, but YouTube’s new mobile site is wonderful.
It should be noted that it is not real HTML5 video at this point, despite what some blogs and news sources claim.
There are a stream of reports that seem to indicate that the iPhone 4 reception is the best of any iPhone released so far, whilst conflicting user testimonials report persistent antenna problems. Is there actually an issue with the antenna?
Apple has been issued with law suits as well as receiving a tidal wave worth of emails over the fact that many users report a significant signal loss when they bridge both sides of the black strip on the bottom left of their iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is different because the outer edge is the antenna which seems to be uninsulated; so bridging it with your sweaty mitts doesn’t produce any positive results.
Apple’s newly announced and much anticipated mobile operating system has been updated and it proudly touts an astonishing hundred new features. Whilst I don’t have the will to meticulously go through every single feature with a fine-toothed comb, I intend to guide you through the new strangely named OS without boring you into a coma.
Firstly, it should be noted that the operating system (formerly iPhone OS) is Apple’s universal mobile operating system, it is what powers the iPhone, the iPad and the iPod Touch. The iOS isn’t just a name change, it marks a massive change in the underlying technology of Apple’s mobile devices that hasn’t been seen since the initial release of the OS or the iPhone.
It’s worth mentioning that the upgrade is free for all eligible devices (albeit some features do not work on older models). In the past when Apple released an iPhone OS update, iPod Touch users would have to sulkily dip their hands into their pockets and fork out $5 to $10, so I’m sure that there are a few customers out there who welcome the freebie with open arms (even if a lot of the functionality doesn’t exist in older devices).
Multitasking is one of the most monumental upgrades to the OS, but it only functions on new models, much to the disappointment of some. There is no technical reason as to why other older devices can’t multitask (all jail-broken iPhones, for example, are very capable of this), Apple just doesn’t want you to be able to do it. Logically, why would Apple want to allow their biggest new feature to work on older devices? I have to admit that I love the feature, but not the selective release favouring newer and more expensive models.
I have been playing an insanely addictive Japanese-made game on my iPod Touch lately and it is surprisingly free. There is absolutely no reason not to get it if you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone.
It is beautifully designed and has the quality of a premium/paid app. The aim is very simple, but hard to master. You’ll lose many hours of your life on this and for that I apologise.
Steve Jobs addressed Apple employees at a town hall meeting and had some very intriguing things to say. Whilst, as TUAW mentioned, they are probably not word-perfect quotes, they offer an insight into the head of Steve Jobs and the future of Apple.
Steve Jobs reportedly said about Google:
“We did not enter the search business. They entered the phone business. Make no mistake: they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them.”
It should be noted that before Google decided to launch an attack on Apple by introducing themselves into a competing market, they (Apple & Google) had a very good friendship and had worked together extensively on a few projects (including the Maps application on the iPhone itself).
I don’t blame Steve (or Apple) for taking the offensive on this one and if Apple introduced a search engine of their own, it’d probably be the one I would use (assuming that their knack for design, intuitive user experiences and technology ports over nicely enough).
Steve didn’t stop there, he lampooned Adobe too:
“They are lazy. They have all this potential to do interesting things, but they just refuse to do it. They don’t do anything with the approaches that Apple is taking, like Carbon. Apple does not support Flash because it is so buggy. Whenever a Mac crashes more often than not it’s because of Flash. No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5.”
It has been a long time coming and he’s right. I hate how Adobe products (even Photoshop) seems to use their own user interfaces, despite Apple having a universal standard already. I hate how the shortcuts to hide the application are the same for everything, except Adobe products.
Adobe purposely broke the user experience because they got cocky and decided they could run things better, but they can’t. They really can’t. Their interface isn’t nicer or cleaner, it has a novelty feel which wears off very quickly. It isn’t appalling either, I’ll grant them that, but it would make sense to keep consistency within the operating system and the applications that use it.
Flash, like other Adobe products, is pretty sluggish and clumsy. It is the reason for most crashes I’ve experienced and I’m sick of it. A web without Flash wouldn’t be a bad thing for me, it’d be a better place (sort of). I get that Flash can be useful sometimes, and that is why desktops (even Apple desktops) use it. But I don’t want my iPhone crashing and losing battery over it.
Even if Adobe fixed Flash, I don’t need animated advertisement banners in my life.
As for potential, they have loads of it. They have created a wonderful tool for designing and image editing, amongst other things. Shame that they charge through the nose and shaft their customers by providing less than 100% in quality.
And while I’m here, since I’ve offered my opinion everywhere but my blog, the iPad is interesting but for the most part, just an oversized iPod Touch. I don’t think it is a flop (I blame the hype that frothing imbeciles created in the run up to the event). Eventually, the iPad, like other Apple products, will gestate into something really awesome.
P.S. I’m mourning for text-based books. I do hope they continue, there is nothing better than a physical book, in my opinion.
