Category: Apple

Apple TV Announcement: More Questions than Answers

~ rbonini ~ 1 Comment

So, heres what I said a few weeks ago:

The rumours are:

Supposedly will be priced at $99 which isn’t too bad of a price

It will basically be a little, iPhone 4 without the phone or screen…

The insides supposedly will be iPhone 4 like:  A4 CPU, 16GB of flash storage

Supposedly can only handle up to 720p video

Apple will be officially changing the name of the device to iTV…

I just left this reply to this post on the GeekTonic blog discussing the AppleTv rumors that will not die.

Well… 1080i or p is only really viable if you have cable internet… and its a really small market. So 720p is pretty much a good bet as the default res.

I don’t care what anybody says – I ain’t streaming movies. Not with a 15gb fair use download cap. I’m getting a local copy of everything. Download once re-use all over the house. However, a 16Gb capacity is barely enough for the photos I have on the Apple Tv. Currently I play all my TV shows off the server rather than sync them. So while not being able to cache much content locally on the device, as long as i can download a copy to the server, I’m happy.

An App Store would be great – though I would assume it wouldn’t be backwards compatible with older AppleTvs – since it would require apps to be recompiled ( or even re-written) for the older hardware/CPUs.

The $99 price point is also awesome. It does open up the market. Its under the psychological $100 barrier – so people will be more likely to buy it.

The form factor is a persistent rumour – however I don’t see the logic of it. Given the clutter in the TV closet, there’s a real chance of me loosing it. However it will be a boon to those who already have too many set-top boxes in their Tv closets – look out for Steve to mention this prominently in any event. I still think its possible that Apple may keep the current form factor in some way.

However, unless the new Apple Tv ( or as you say, iTV) launches with some really awesome apps that will be worth the outlay of $99, I can’t see myself rushing out to buy one. Since we got satellite Tv installed with the accompanying HD-PVR a few weeks back, the use of the AppleTv has declined a lot – like 2 or 3 times a week as opposed to every day. Purchases sinc3e can be counted on one hand.
So a bit of a mixed reaction to this.

I was watching the announcement purely for the Apple Tv announcement.

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First of all, what Steve never mentioned:

  • Steve never mentioned details as to innards of the Apple TV
  • Steve never mentioned whether it’ll handle 1080p or just 720p as it does currently
  • Steve never mentioned whether content purchases will still be available in iTunes on the desktop
  • Steve never mentioned whether this software will be backwards compatible with the current hardware.
  • Steve never mentioned why there is a USB port on the back of the Apple TV.
  • Steve never mentioned Ping for the AppleTv

The Apple Store page answers none of these (burning) questions. Until I have the answers to these, the new Apple Tv is going to linger in geek limbo – neither here nor there.

What he did mention was (and we are not surprised at):

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While this is a bit of a let down. There is one thing that I’m happy about: no storage management. Currently, its a bit of a pain.

Like i said, as long as I can have a local copy somewhere, I’m happy with the move to streaming. Now, i can get some killer speeds out of mmy ADSL connection. If I use Steam or Microsoft File Transfer Manager i can get 600Kbps. But iTunes and ordinary downloads are still slow. So I’m hoping that the Apple Tv will be able to take advantage of these speeds to bring seamless streaming.

Update: Fraiser Spiers makes the point that this may well be iOS on the new Apple TV, but nobody’s telling. Again backwards compatibility with the current Apple Tv will be telling.

Not surprised at no Apps or iOS. However, if the Apple TV runs an A4 CPU , you can bet your bottom dollar iOS will come soon. So if this is the case, I don’t think that Apple will offer upgrades to current Apple TV’s.

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The new price is nice. Suddenly, upgrading dosen’t look like such a big deal.

 

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Need i say more?

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Since I’m in the UK, Netflix isn’t such a big deal. But there are UK providers of on demand streaming movies such as Sky TV. And it will be interesting to see if Apple does deals with these companies.

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apple-fall-2010_0322[1]

The UI is almost the same. As you can see, the button to add to wishlist is much more prominent now. Which is actually a good thing.

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AirPlay from any iOS 4.1 device to the Apple TV sounds awesome. Exactly what content can be streamed? iTunes store only?

Its still called the Apple TV, which is probably a good thing. It is possible, however, that the name change will come when the change to iOS occurs.

So, the jury is still very much out on the new Apple Tv

apple-fall-2010_0388[1]

Thanks to GDGT for the pictures.

Why Apple will not let Flash on iOS

~ rbonini ~ 7 Comments

I just left the following comment on Dave Winers blog. He was, once again, having a go at Apple over Flash. And this particular post was a response to Grubers’ response to his original post. I’ve lost you already, haven’t I?

Anyway, this is what I said:

I don’t have an iPad, so I don’t feel the lack of Flash as much.

In saying that, what Apple have to remember is that will millions of Apple Customers convince web designers to dump flash?

Adobe tried to get Flash running on iOS but Apple stopped them.

What we’re looking for here is for some sort of compromise. Would Apple allow Adobe to deploy a completely custom Flash build on iOS, one that removes some UI headaches (such as the mouseovers that Steve always talks about)? Would web devs actually use such a thing ( remembering that the whole premise of Flash is to write once, run everywhere)?

What if the whole reason that Apple is doing this is to give HTML5 a running start?

So, if we are going to ask if Apple is winning and losing, we need to define exactly what “winning” and “losing” actually is. Does Apple win when HTML5 becomes dominant? Does Apple win when Adobe shutters Flash? Does Apple win when iOS only Flash-less sites spring up everywhere?

OF course, for Adobe, they win when Apple lets Flash in any form on to the platform. Adobe even win when Apple lets Adobes translation tool run.
What we can say for certain is that thus far, lack  of Flash has not hurt Apple very much.

Later, it occurred to me, that there could be another reason for Apple to leave Flash out of iOS.

Consider. Most of the worlds advertising is Flash-based. And without Flash, there is no way for people to view those adverts.

So, what does Apple come out with, but their own advertising platform.

So, Apple just locked out most of their competition in the advertising space, giving their own platform a running start. So, this means that all those advertisers have to come to Apple (or Admob, but thats a footnote) to get their adverts some views.

Apple giveth and Apple taketh away (reverse that).

Also, when one thinks of Hulu and other sites that primarily use Flash as a delivery mechanism for content, not having that option means that delivery of said content to iOS users has to go through either the iTunes Store, or H.264 and HTML 5.

So, keeping Flash off the iOS platform is central to Apple’s business interests. And, as I said in my comment above, Apple has yet to see significant backlash. Unless you are  ageek or a web dev, nobody says “I ain’t buying Apple till they support Flash”.

In fact, until this back and forth erupted between Winer and Gruber, I completely for got there wasn’t Flash on iOS. Why was that? Because web designers and developers have been making thier sites iOS friendly for years.

Even if you take the view that Apple isin’t winning, it certainly isin’t losing either.

Quick thoughts on the AppleTv rumours.

~ rbonini ~ 1 Comment

4882762097_ee547914db

The rumours are:

  • Supposedly will be priced at $99 which isn’t too bad of a price
  • It will basically be a little, iPhone 4 without the phone or screen…
  • The insides supposedly will be iPhone 4 like:  A4 CPU, 16GB of flash storage
  • Supposedly can only handle up to 720p video
  • Apple will be officially changing the name of the device to iTV…

I just left this reply to this post on the GeekTonic blog discussing the AppleTv rumors that will not die.

Well… 1080i or p is only really viable if you have cable internet… and its a really small market. So 720p is pretty much a good bet as the default res.

I don’t care what anybody says – I ain’t streaming movies. Not with a 15gb fair use download cap. I’m getting a local copy of everything. Download once re-use all over the house. However, a 16Gb capacity is barely enough for the photos I have on the Apple Tv. Currently I play all my TV shows off the server rather than sync them. So while not being able to cache much content locally on the device, as long as i can download a copy to the server, I’m happy.

An App Store would be great – though I would assume it wouldn’t be backwards compatible with older AppleTvs – since it would require apps to be recompiled ( or even re-written) for the older hardware/CPUs.

The $99 price point is also awesome. It does open up the market. Its under the psychological $100 barrier – so people will be more likely to buy it.

The form factor is a persistent rumour – however I don’t see the logic of it. Given the clutter in the TV closet, there’s a real chance of me loosing it. However it will be a boon to those who already have too many set-top boxes in their Tv closets – look out for Steve to mention this prominently in any event. I still think its possible that Apple may keep the current form factor in some way.

However, unless the new Apple Tv ( or as you say, iTV) launches with some really awesome apps that will be worth the outlay of $99, I can’t see myself rushing out to buy one. Since we got satellite Tv installed with the accompanying HD-PVR a few weeks back, the use of the AppleTv has declined a lot – like 2 or 3 times a week as opposed to every day. Purchases sinc3e can be counted on one hand.
So a bit of a mixed reaction to this.

On iPhone 4

~ rbonini

You know, I’m kinda glad I’ve yet to buy an iPad. The reason being is the emergence of the iPhone 4.

I can just here you think “Roberto has well and truly lost it this time”.  But think about it. In terms of net technology, the iPad adds only a very little. sure it has multi touch and all these, lest we forget, amazing applications. However, much of what i can now do on my laptop and iPhone I could do on an iPad. Hence if one had to do a cost benefit analysis, one would find that the large outlay for the iPad is disproportionate to the net benefit it would bring.

However, I’m not saying I’m not getting an iPad (next time Jeff Jarvis throws his away, he’s welcome to send it to me for “recycling”).

Now, Apple also has what can be rightly termed a mini-iPad, the iPhone 4. It should be said that the iPhone is now a stable plaftorm. We have a core set of features which we will always expect from an iPhone. This means that the majority of the features I already have in my trusty iPhone 3G are in the new model.

The difference is that the iPhone offers one large feature currently completely missing from my life: video. I on’t have a Flip or other camcorder. My old Nokia N74 did have one, but its no where near as good as the one in the iPhone 4. the iMovie app is yet more value added to the package that’s irresistible. So, the cost benefit analysis would find that the outlay for one is proportionate to the net benefit – the addition of video ( and iMovie).

I’m basing this on one hardware feature. There is a laundry list of new stuff to be found in the iPhone 4, not to mention the A4 CPU that’s to be found, or the bump in battery life.

One word of caution here. When I got my iPhone it got more and more valuable as i discovered apps and workflows that worked for me. And I still do discover things, that sense of child-like wonder is still there. The same will most certainly apply to the iPad.

A second post script to add to this: As a budding amateur photographer, I see tremendous value in both of these devices. The iPad is perfect for showing off a portfolio or album. In the media-rich world we now live in, the ability to record video, even just in 720p from the iPhone 4 adds another dimension to my photography. It is a pity that Apple does not let these two devices work together.

Third postscript: Gizmodo ruined the iPhone 4 announcement. Glad they were banned from WWDC. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

(AdMob)Comment of the Day

~ rbonini

Not from here, but rather from Kara Swishers post on Apple barring AdMob.

David K makes this excellent point:

Really? I never realized how I was held hostage. I could swear that I am completely free to buy any smart phone I want if I don’t like the iPhone. I wasn’t aware that I Apple would come send its iPolice after me if I walked into a Verizon store tommorow and picked up a Droid…

Since basically the argument in the preceding comments was along the lines that iAd was yet another instance of the closed ecosystem.

By the same token, devs aren’t held hostage as regards to their choice of Ad provider. This is made clear by the language in the new ToS. They just can’t use AdMob.

Quite frankly, Jobs has every right to bar Admob. To do anything else would be like Microsoft selling Lotus Notes in their stores. Not gonna happen.

6 iPhone OS 4.0 Predictions

~ rbonini

The event is in literally 2 hours as I write this.

My opinions on this and the iPad have been percolating their way through my brain this week. And its become clear tot he me that Apple have a clear competitor in the phone OS space in Windows Phone 7 series. And i don’t mean simply from a design prospective either. Clearly Microsoft Metro UI aesthetic is drop dead gorgeous.

But the Hub strategy is too. I don’t man from the point of a shared user files folder that all applications can access either. I mean from the perspective of being able to access all content from a particular place. So, all music, from pandora,spotify etc show up in the music hub right alongside my stored music library. All pictures show up in the Photos app, regardless of which app created them. All voice memos as well – I have two voice memo apps plus the default Apple one and each of them keep their apps in a separate location.

So that’s prediction number one – Media Hubs.

Prediction number two is iBooks. I firmly believe that Apple will extend its iBooks store to the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is because it makes sense. Now, if i suggested that iBooks was coming to Apple TV, this clearly would make no sense and you’d be laughing at me. But it does and you’re not.

Prediction 3 is that we will NOT see multitasking. Quite simply, this is down to the fact that we have no multitasking enabled for the iPad.

Prediction 4 is that we are going to have non-internet enabled tethering with the iPad. There can and will be things that you want to transfer and move around. I suppose one would want to tether thier iPod Touch to a 3G iPad. It may seem to be crazy talk, but then again perhaps not.

Prediction 5 is that we will have a  mini One More Thing (I am going out on a limb here). I mentioned Windows Phone 7 series above because it is a serious attempt by Microsoft to stay relevant, not by strong arming phone companies, but by actually presenting a beautiful product. Microsoft are clearly capable of one-upping Apple on their home turf of intuitive UI and beautiful design. Apple want to once again try and pull ahead of Microsoft.

Indeed, not just Microsoft, but Google’s Nexus One and Android. The only way they an do that is by keeping ahead, and keeping ahead with something that you can only get at Apple while the competition recovers from shock.

Now, its certain that what we see today will not be the end of it. At WWDC in June, Steve is going to want to go even further. So we will get a taster of things to come.

Remember that last year, Apple pitched the iPhone as a gaming device. Arguably there are some great games in the iPhone App Store. But the iPad and Windows Phone 7 series have stolen that thunder. So the question is what will apple focus on this year? It will undoubtedly have to be apps related. Eric Schmitt said last year that the battle will be won or lot in the app stores and he is right.

So  prediction 6: will we see Pages, Numbers and Keynote for the iPhone? Possible.

Its also going to be about what the new API offers developers.

So there will be plenty to look forward to in about an hour.

Update 9:18PDT/17:17BST: Brent Evans just asked:

Capture

Would be awesome don’t you think?

Re: 7 reasons why the Windows 7 Phone is THE iPhone Killer

~ rbonini

I thought I’d repost my comment on this fascinating post: 7 reasons why the Windows 7 Phone is THE iPhone Killer – read the post first.

I must say that I am seriously tempted to get a Windows Phone 7 phone. For all the above reasons.

As a developer, the major enticement is the fact that I can write my own apps for the phone for free.

Having an iPhone and an AppleTv, I’m pretty heavily invested into iTunes store content. That is the big thing holding me back. If Microsoft could get their software to authenticate files with Apple’s DRM servers,t his would be the cherry on the top. The media hub is certainly indicative of Microsoft embracing content irrespective of its origin.

Finally, I assume that the phone syncs with Microsoft’s beautiful Zune software. iTunes as a software program is terrible and the Zune software out does it six ways to Sunday. Again, another big plus.

All the above having being said. I’m wondering what apple will do to respond to this. They clearly have a huge task ahead of them. Microsoft is cleverly tapping into the large install base of Windows and Xbox Live games, the large install base of Mesh, the huge install base of visual studio and Silverlight developers and finally, the huge install base of Exchange servers. These are four constituencies that Apple does not have any worthy alternative (unless one counts the pitiful Exchange support in the iPhone).

This is clearly Microsoft playing to its strengths and not its weaknesses. They are playing this on their own rules, on their terms and and on their own turf.

This is why competition works.

I’d thoroughly encourage everyone to go and watch the Mix 10 Keynote on-demand here: http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/KEY01

You’ll see why am so excited about this as a developer.

Finally, while I’m on the subject of Mix 10, go ahead and see UI designer Bill Buxton in the second half of the second keynote here for a truly inspiring speech: http://live.visitmix.com/MIX10/Sessions/KEY02 (he’s introduced at the 2:13 mark)

Why I Just Bought A Dell (instead of an iPad)

~ rbonini ~ 4 Comments

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Even with all the iPad hysteria in yonder interwebs, there is one fact that differentiates the iPad from a true, bad-to-the-bone laptop: the need to sync.

This above all else cripples the iPad (at least when one considers it against the backdrop of the average laptop hardware spec). Think of it. How are you going to get all those wonderful iPhone apps you’ve bought over the past three years onto your brand spanking new iPad?? You need to sync it. How are you going to get your music, tv shows and movies on top your iPad? You need to sync it. In fact, how are you going to get some swanky software update that Apple will surely release on to your iPad without syncing it??

I have that problem with my iPhones at the moment. My iTunes library  that i sync the iPhones to got borked a few weeks back. Now I have to erase and re-sync BOTH iPhones with my partially rebuild library (its a bit of a hit or miss process). Until I do that, I can get stuff off the devices, but not sync stuff to them. Bit of a pain, no?? Its going to be even worse with the iPad if I’m ever in this sticky situation with it.

Secondly, the iPad runs iPhone OS3.2, the laptop runs Windows 7 Professional. Which gives me the great freedom of applications?? It depends. I have no qualms about the app store. Its the type of application that is allowed on the iPad/iPhone thats the problem. Apple clearly prohibits running Virtual machines, or any kind of Just In Time compiliation on the device in question. So how do I write code on the thing?? (writing code is useless if you can’t compile in real time and debug). A Jailbreak is out of the question , and even then, Visual Studio is certainly not coming to a jailbroken iPad near you.

Second, the hardware itself limits what kind of applications you can run. If Adobe produces a stripped down version of Photoshop (likely – they already have a Photoshop iPhone app), Lightroom (possible, it depends on if the SDK allows access to the SD and USB port adaptors) or Illustrator (after Apple demonstrated the drawing capabilities of the iPad, why not?), you can bet your bottom dollar that they are not going to be anywhere as full featured and powerful as their desktop (and laptop) counterparts. The hardware is Apple’s very own custom silicon. The A4 system-on-a-chip made by PA Semi for its parent company runs at 1Ghz. Not exactly world class performance. And until we have industry standard bench marks, nobody can say for sure. Nevertheless, this nice Dell system runs a Intel® Core™2 T6670(2.2GHz,800MHz,2MB). A nice speed improvement, if I do say so myself. The current consensus is that the iPad has about a 1Gb of RAM. Compared to the 4Gbs in the Dell build.

Now I do a lot of typing on my laptop – whether thats for code or for taking notes or the occasional blog post. So the Keyboard is must for me. The iPad keyboard dock is an ingenious design, and would look good on just about any desktop (not to mention those nice display tables at the Apple Store). It goes along way to answering those critics who, after three years of using their iPhone virtual keyboards, still like their tactile feedback (not to mention the much improved ergonomics of writing volumes on the keyboard dock rather than just on your lap – there must be some ergonomically minded lobby that would blame apple for all the RSI around, right?). What i can’t imagine is lugging the dock all the way to uni, setting it up and then putting this tiny little iPad on it and then taking notes for three hours (mind you, after actually trying this I may change my mind, but thats months away). Equally, I can’t imagine turning up to a busness meeting armed with the keyboard dock and iPad – i’d be the laughing stock of any (Dell-dominated) conference table.

In saying that the iPhone virtual keyboard has been very good to me. If one had to graph the spelling mistakes I (inadvertently) tweet, there is a continual improvement ( a reverse hockey stick graph if you will). So I’m certainly not against the virtual keyboard on the iPad. How it will actually work, however, is another question altogether. I’m typeing this on the last Dell laptop i bought, and the keys give me firm, reassuring feedback. Not to mention the almost soothing sound the keys make as I type, the sound of success (if I an’t typing, I aint working).

Then there is battery. Now, if Apple is to be believed, the iPad has 10 hours of battery life and a month of standby. No idea if that’s 10 ours of general use, of video playback, of web browsing or music playback etc. Going by the iPhone’s track record I’m not so sure I’m always going to get 10 hours out of the thing. However, the 10 hours still far outlives the seven i had for two years with the current laptop’s 9 cell li-ion battery. And the 2 hours I’ve lived with for the past for months. And the zero hours that I’ve had for a week and a half now.

Now lets think of the gravy.

One, the laptop has no app store. On the minus side, this means that I have to source the applications I wish to run myself.  I have replacements for all the iPads built in applications. This, ironically enough, includes iBooks. Its called Kindle for PC. From Amazon. (Amazon’s actions over the weekend is a subject for another post, but read this brilliant article by the author John Scalazi). I have the Full Creative suite 3 from Adobe. I have Microsoft’s Expression Studio 3. I have Visual studio 2008 and 2010. I have SQL Server 2008. I have Office 2008 (soon to be 2010). I have a virtual swiss knife of utilities near and dear to my heart for everything from screen capture to April fools jokes.

Two, webcam. This laptop build has an integrated webcam. And the iPad does not. And yes, I’ve heard of those rumors of the camera cavity in the iPad’s frame. And yes there is every possibility that el Steveo will pull a One More Thing on launch day and announce the addition of a camera. But here we deal with certainties and absolutes, not obscure fantasies and wet dreams of fanboys. So we assume that there is no camera on the iPad version 1. But, again assuming that the SDK allows the access, the appearance of the third party webcam is almost assured. But still, I have a integrated webcam here and now.

Third, 64 bit. This is a 64 bit processor with a 64 bit OS. Need I say more?

Forth, DVD drive. For those movies I’d like to watch without going though the palava of syncing them. The benefits of having the DVD drive handy are still very much apparent, even in this age of the cloud and the on demand nature of the downloading programs off the web (legitimately, of course). The iPad is complete dependant on the internet for its software, music, and there is iTunes syncing for anything else.

The one question mark here, which I will require an actual iPad to answer, is the screen. The Dell screen is anti glare, and promises to be a significant improvement on the screen on my current laptop. The iPad screen is IPS and supposedly has a great viewing angle. According to Steve Jobs, that is. No-one has had it in direct sunlight yet, so we’ve no idea how well it handles the glare. The winner in this category will undoubtedly be Amazons Kindle (that pesky Company again).

So with out further ado, here are the specs:

Base
Vostro 1520 : Standard Base

Memory
4096MB 800 MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x2GB)

Keyboard
Internal Keyboard – English (QWERTY)

Video Card
Integrated GMA X4500 HD Graphics

Hard Drive
320GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive with Free Fall Sensor

Microsoft Operating System
English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64 BIT)

Optical Devices
8X DVD+/-RW Drive including software for WIN7

Wireless Networking
Dell Wireless 1397 Mini Card (802.11 b/g) European

Primary Battery
Primary 6-cell 56 WHr Lithium Ion battery

Processor
Intel® Core™2 T6670(2.2GHz,800MHz,2MB)

Camera
Integrated 1.3MP Camera

Colour Choice
Obsidian Black

LCD
15.4 inch WXGA+ CCFL Anti-Glare Display Anti-Glare

The obligatory iPad post.

~ rbonini

Now, I am really excited about the iPad. now before you dismiss this post as just another fanboy rant, hear me out.

The App Store

The app store is a smart idea if only to leverage the power, dominance and success of the iPhone App Store.

There is an uproar over the fact that Apple has closed its device up.

One, Apple has very simple rules for admission into the Apps store. if you meet them, then you go in and make your money. Apple is happy since your app will not crash its perfect tablet (and looks good) and you’re happy to be in and making money.

Two, Apple has one golden rule for apps: no duplication of functionality. That’s why the Google Voice App was rejected and caused the entire blogosphere to have palpitations. This still leave considerable leeway for developers.  Note also that the iWorks applications actually have to be bought separately and installed. They are not native functionality. Hence, and if I’m reading this right, Microsoft could in theory have Office Applications on the iPad. Isn’t that fair??

Three, native iPad apps are going to be just great. It will take a while for developers to fully leverage the capability of the iPad, but we have no idea what they will come up with. So, who wants to go tot he end of cyberspace and back to find these little gems?? Not me. The App store is by far the most convenient way of discovering and installing new apps.

(Note – There are a number of apps that I love that would look wonderful on the iPad- more on this in a future post)

The iBook Store

I was seriously considering buying a Kindle 2. Its cheaper than an iPad, it has a great store, it has a great screen and it has free 3G. And, this is the important bit, has international availability. As far as i know, the iBook store is restricted to US customers only. Presumably until Apple negotiates the international rights. And apple has 2 months to do that.

Another thing worth noting:the iBook books are significantly more expensive than the Kindle books. This is a problem. A big problem. I can probably buy the dead tree version of that book for less than either of them.

Now I may only buy a few books year but that cost difference adds up.

there has been much talk of the multimedia capabilities of the device, and how publishers could leverage this in their books, but i want to see what forms this make take to see if its worth it. From that cost difference alone, my Kindle may well pay for itself.

The Wireless

Much has been made about how you have to fork out some money every month for 3G access. So what?? its a contract-less arrangement thats cheaper than AT&T’s normal data contact. being able to use it on a month to month basis makes it extremely flexible.

The fact that there is a 250Mb cap on the cheaper plan has got people frothing at the mouth. Come one people!!! I never have gone above 250Mb a month on my iPhone. Ever.

i already have 3G on my iPhone, so the 3G on the iPad is redundant. that is why I’d prefer the Wi-Fi iPad.

 

The Accessories

The Keyboard Dock is awesome. Period. Whether I actually need one is another matter altogether.

Now this is the point that has been driving me crazy with the iPad coverage. People have been complaining that the iPad has no SD or USB slots. It actually does. There are two adaptors that plug into the connector slot. The current use case for these are for camera’s. Which is great.

Think of it. I’m on a shoot. I take the SD card out and review all the JPEG’s on the iPad. I can email them as well, sort them, tag them, make notes.

Better yet I can stick my portfolio on the iPad and show clients on a beautiful, slick deice, consumerate with the standard of my work. Impressed customer?? You bet.

The Screen

This is where the Kindle really has the chance to shine. The e-ink screen needs no backlight (hence not much battery power), is easy on the eyes and can be read in direct sunlight. Whether the iPad screen will stand up to hours of use (i.e for our own eyes), and use in direct sunlight remains to be seen. I think this is a fairly compelling reason to get he kindle over the iPad.

Since teh Screen does not support Widescreen natively, the actual movie viewing area is very very small. I’m not at all bothered about that.

Conclusion

The iPad is NOT a device, or simply a platform for consuming content – having the ability to install iWorks on the iPad is one indication of that.

The exclusion of a camera does not bother me – i don’t want one.

If Steve lets me do what I wanna do, I’m happy. I wanna work with the iPad and transfer to the PC very, very easily. I wanna use it as a star Trek PADD. i wanna leverage the full eco system of applications and accessories that complement the iPhone. Who knows if Adobe will release Photoshop for the iPad??

But i am a Microsoft developer. I live and breathe in Visual Studio. There is no way I am going to ditch the laptop in favour of the iPad. I need it for work. not to mentiont hat I need it to sync the iPad in the first place (yes here are other machines, but the laptop is the most convenient one). Which is

I don’t feel that there is a compelling case for unilaterally ditching the Kindle (certainly not if Apple will let the Kindle App onto the iPad). I have a feeling that the Kindle 3 will give us more to think about. Amazon will come back at apple with Something. Even if its the mass of personalized recommendations that Amazon has on our book buying habits. I think that this is one arena that the battle is not over in.

But I will say this.

The week after its release, I’m going to the store and I’m having an hands on session with it.

And then I’m gonna by it.

In response to a N900 review

~ rbonini

Theres a nice comparison of the iPhone versus the N900 here.

I’m not sold. So I thought I’d repost my comment here (read the post first):

Good review.
1. How does the N900 support very Flash heavy sites?? Can you play Flash games etc??

2.How do N900 apps compare to iPhone ones?? How is the fit and finish?? Do UI designers aspire to the Apple-esque UI paradigm that has made iPhone apps so successful (and so user-friendly)?? Is there the same range of apps that the iPhone app store has?? the ones that are completely off the wall brilliant??

3.I agree that Contacts need to be updated soon, but I don’t like the inclusion of all services contact lists. There are apps that will work with your contacts. And if you use Gmail Mobile Sync, youc an manage your contacts on line and have that synced to you phone.

4.I’d be very glad to be rid of iTunes. My itunes library got borked and its a pain to rebuild and re sync etc. Not the first time either. However, I’m not sure moving to something thats even worse at syncing is a good  idea. While there are no apps for Windows Media devices, there are certainly apps for Sonos and AppleTv/iTunes for the iPhone. If you are all Apple devices in the home, this is no problem.

5. I’m not sure I like the idea of all in one messaging. I typically like to keep the real and online worlds separate. Can you turn it off?? Customise what services appear?? Custimise whose updates from online appear??

6. Yes, the iPhone camera needs an upgrade. And yes the shareing options are limited. But you completely ignore the role of apps here. there is a breathtakign range of apps that work with your photos, adding effects, cropping, panoramas etc. Apps will share you photos on twitter, facebook, posterous, etc.

Finally, I think we need to see what will be in iPhone 4. There will be a new camera no doubt.

Push notifications are an acceptable alternative to multitasking, but i’d take performance and battery life over real multitasking any day of the week.

And i argue that once ap developers have figured out how to bring Push to thier social networkign apps, we will see some amazing integration. But even now, there are loads of social apps in the store.

I’m not sure you’ve sold me on the N900.