Macgasm

The iPod classic is still around, and for whatever reason, they’ve pretty much been ignored since 2009. I mean, they don’t even have touch screens. I don’t know one person who has one of these things these days, outside of audiophiles. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have 160GB in my iPhone, but I don’t really need it.

MacRumors and Hardmac seem to think that the iPod classic could see their storage capacities bumped to 220GB because of a new Toshiba Hard Drive. Sure, Apple “could” up the storage capacity of the iPod classic, but we’re willing to bet that the iPod classic is just as likely to get axed. We have no proof for that, but the only thing it has going for it is storage space. Sooner or later, SSD drives of similar capacity will come down in price and find their way into the iPhone and iPod touch.

If the iPod classic gets a strorage bump mid-cycle, it’ll be a big tell that Apple still has plans for the device. If not, the iPod classic’s days are numbered.

Article Via Hardmac and MacRumors

First, I’d like to say that I personally live in a world where the “best” alternative makes an appearance in my workflow. I’m so far beyond the war that is “Apple Vs. Microsoft Vs. Google” that it surprises even me sometimes. I want the best tool for the job more than I want the best Apple product or Microsoft product. I’ve personally found that in my experience Apple products have a leg up lately. But, getting products in front of people who use OS X is a huge must for Microsoft.

It seems like Microsoft might be awakening from a decade long slumber.

Microsoft’s Amanda Lefbvre told AllThingsD that they’re looking into moving their products to the Mac App Store. They haven’t ruled it out, and they’re analzying their options. I’m skeptical that it will actually happen, but as an OS X user, I would certainly benefit from their products being on the Mac App Store. I’d be willing to bet a lot of small- to medium-sized businesses would benefit from the move as well.

People want what they know, and the numbers clearly indicate that they know Microsoft products. So what’s the best thing Microsoft can do? Get Office and their other offerings in front of the Apple audience. The first step towards accomplishing that would be getting Office:Mac 2011 onto the Mac App Store.

It might be a hard pill to swallow, and it’s going to suck handing over 30% of their sales to an age-old enemy, but consumers don’t care about that one iota. If they’re relying on the Mac App Store to find software, and Office isn’t available, they will buy something else.

Keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

Article Via AllThingsDigital

Twelve South has announced the BookArc for Air, a smaller version of the company’s laptop stand, the BookArc.

Like the larger version, the BookArc for Air holds the notebook upright, saving space on the user’s desk and helping the machine run cooler in clamshell mode. Since the Air has ports on both sides, Twelve South has included a built-in cable manager.

I like the BookArc, and I’m sure the new smaller version is great. However, this product isn’t exactly what many customers had in mind.

Back in October, Ben Brooks emailed the company, and the company told him new inserts would be made for the MacBook Air, so its thinner frame would fit in the existing stand without rocking. However, the company ended up moving in a different direction. Here is what the company wrote to Ben this morning, after he complained about the BookArc for Air:

I can certainly understand you feeling that way. When we corresponded last, a new insert for the old stand was the plan however, through time, this plan changed and a new stand, custom-made for the new Air and with cable management, was pursued instead.

If your BookArc was purchased between the time of Apple’s announcement for the new Airs (October 20, 2010) and December 8^th, when the final decision was made and the compatibility was changed on websites (in other words, it was purchased specifically for your new Air and you had no way of knowing it would be incompatible), we will put your name on a list of ‘early adopters’ who may participate in an exchange program. If you qualify, please provide me with proof of the date of purchase and your address, and I’ll add you to the list.

That’s pretty crummy, especially for a company that builds such great products. Hopefully, that exchange program will be enough to appease most customers.

The BookArc for MacBook Air will be available next month at $39.99

RIM may be initially producing only 200,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets per month, playing it somewhat conservatively according to part manufacturers. Quanta has reportedly started manufacture of the new tablet and has reached a production range of 150,000 to 200,000 units a month. According to Digitimes, this figure is much lower than the previously suggested 1 million units per month. In contrast, Apple is currently at a manufacturing rate of between 2 and 3 million iPads a month.

The lower production numbers may reflect a more cautious approach on the part of RIM, choosing to stagger the launch of the new tablet in North America first, and then worldwide.

RIM is also keeping tight control over the manufacturing process, requiring Quanta to produce the PlayBook in Taiwan and prohibiting outsourcing to China. In doing so, RIM hopes to prevent knock-off Chinese clones, and also keep RIM’s ‘security specifications’ under wraps. According to the report, Quanta maintains enough capacity in Taiwan to meet client needs while the majority of its production lines are in China.

The good news is that shipments may be ready as early as February, according to sources at upstream component suppliers, so we will finally see how the BlackBerry PlayBook stacks up against the iPad in real world situations and in sales figures. If RIM is lucky, they’ll get it out before Apple announces the next iteration of the iPad.

Article Via electronista
Photo Credit: Robert S. Donovan

It’s commonplace to see commercials where one company will tout that their product is better than a competing product. Verizon had done this for quite some time with their Android phones and the iPhone. Verizon has even done this when comparing their cellular service to that of AT&T’s. Some commercials were more in your face obvious, while others were a bit more subdued. It appears that Sprint is easing up on Apple. Think they might be courting Apple, or even in the works for a Sprint iPhone?

According to an Electronista piece, Sprint in their latest commercial is not targeting the iPhone. The commercial centers around the HTC EVO, where you see the little Android mascot zooming around reading all of the rave reviews about itself. Then the commercial introduces the all new HTC EVO Shift 4G. Not once is the iPhone, nor AT&T mentioned. Is this Sprint playing to Android’s strengths, or maybe they are playing nice with Apple?

Here is the Sprint commercial for your viewing enjoyment:

Does this mean that come June we will be seeing a Sprint or even maybe a T-Mobile iPhone? At this point it is anyone’s guess. But, I believe that Apple will be releasing the iPhone for the other two U.S. carriers. I think Apple let Verizon get a leg up on the competition by releasing the iPhone before the other carriers. It would be great to see the iPhone on all four U.S. carriers. This way we will start to have some true competition between carriers. When there’s competition between carriers, the consumers reap the benefits.

Article Via Electronista

In a recent ad, Apple showed off the Verizon and AT&T iPhone at the same time — highlighting that other than carrier and radios, the two phones are identical.

That’s important.

Unification across carriers is best for Apple, its customers and developers.

Several people have asked me over the last few days if AT&T iPhone apps will work on the Verizon iPhone. Of course, the answer is yes. But most of these people were surprised — and relieved — to hear it. Can you imagine an App Store divided by carrier?

Beneath the apps, iOS is the same on all iPhones.

I fully expect the GSM iPhone to gain wireless tether. (If AT&T allows it is another question, sadly.) I fully expect the GSM and CDMA iPhone to gain 4G/LTE capabilities at the same time. Hardware features — like software ones — will remain consistent across carriers.

Apple’s integrated software/hardware approach pays off for iPhone customers in a big way. The company offers a unified, consistent experience to all of its customers, regardless of carrier. Not even Verizon — well known for gaudy, useless apps and gaudy, big logos — got special rights to the iPhone.

Sadly, fragmentation is slowly pulling Android apart at the seams.

Over the last year or so, Verizon (and other carriers), along with handset manufacturers, have been slow to update older devices’ firmware. In fact, according to Google’s own data, only about half of Android handsets are currently running version 2.2 or higher. Many users are still stuck on pre-2.0 versions of the OS, cutting them out of many of the better apps on the Android Market.

Fragmentation goes far beyond OS version, though. Different carriers allow OEMs to enable different hardware features on different phones, and every major OEM ships custom UIs on top of Android — which further slow software updates and lead to more fragmentation. Apps that run on one phone won’t run on another. Some apps require specific hardware, others don’t work well with every custom Android skin out there. It’s a mess.

Android fans claim that these issues arise anytime an “open” system is in place, and that such issues are necessary evils to experience a greater good.

Ironically, as Motorola and other hardware builders continue to lock down boot loaders and their software, Android freedom isn’t what it once was. When I bought my Motorola Droid a year ago, it was great. Sadly, it seems that it was the last of the stock Android handsets on Verizon. The days of easy ROM swapping are over for most Android users.

For Google, open often means the power lies in the hands of the carriers and hardware manufacturers. Users lose in that equation quite often. Apple is avoiding that quite well, thankfully, by controlling both its software and hardware — keeping carriers’ hands off.

And that isn’t going to change with Verizon.

According to a new report by by Alex Wang, Ph.D, (commissioned by Adobe), advertisements in iPad magazine apps can “more effectively engage readers and create stronger purchase intention” than those in print media.

That’s not a major shocker. Print ads are static. Unless newspapers have made some major media improvements, there are no movie clips or audio either.

That’s important. Here’s a bit from the story:

Overall, the research discovered that readers are more likely to engage with interactive than static ads, as well as have a more favorable attitude to the ad and greater purchase intent. See a summary of the results below; participants responded using a scale from 1-9 and considered both all ads in the magazine, as well as a specific ad presented to them.

The results of the study can be download here as a PDF.

Of course, there is some irony here. On the surface, it appears that since Adobe’s proprietary content delivery  platform—Flash—doesn’t run on iOS, it’s hard to say what Adobe really has at stake here. Most moving ads on the web right now are Flash-based.

Flash isn’t the whole story, though iPad magazine apps like Wired are built with Adobe’s Digital Publishing Suite. (Read more about it here.) Obviously, Adobe wants this platform to grow, since the far more popular Flash probably won’t ever end up on iOS devices. The more engaging these tools are to users (including ads), the better it is for not only publishers, but Adobe as well.

The elephant in the room with this study is Apple’s iAd platform. While the company hasn’t spoken too much about it, iAds do offer a great experience—better than any other ad platform I’ve seen on iOS, not to mention anywhere else. However, with just one iAd running on the iPad at launch, it’s been slow to grow.

So, dear readers, what do you think about ads on your phones and tablets?

Article Via Apple Insider

It’s Software Update time.

This time around, iTunes is getting some love, and has been bumped to version 10.2. Updates include security enhancements, and is required to sync the forthcoming Verizon iPhone.

You can head to that link above for a direct download, or fire up software update for the 93.1 MB download.