Apple has posted two ads on their site late this evening. Both ads follow a similar scheme as the iPhone 3G ads, except these now have a different tune playing in the background.
The first ad, advertises the copy and paste feature. Starting by copying a phone number to a text and ending with the copying of a map to an email. Needless to say, this feature isn’t exclusive to the iPhone 3GS and comes with the iPhone 3.0 software. I find it odd that Apple would even try to use this as a selling point.
The second ad shows off voice control. They start the ad by asking the phone to call Dave Taylor. Then they ask “Play songs by Jack Johnson”. Voice control is actually an iPhone 3GS exclusive feature, and this ad does a great job of showing you what you can do with it in a 30 seconds.
Today seems to be the day for Apple software updates.
First up is the iPhoto update. Here’s the release notes:
This update addresses a rarely encountered issue involving photos imported into a previous version that could affect overall stability, and corrects references to a few points of interest and location names that were labeled incorrectly.
The update weights in at 103MB, and is recommended for all iPhoto 09′ users. You can download the update via Software Update in the Apple menu.
Next up, Apple updated the iPhone SDK from 3.0 to 3.1beta(Build 7C97D). The SDK and Firmware were seeded to developers today with few details on any improvements that might have been included.
Apple has released a firmware update for the MacBook Air that adds support for the latest replacement batteries.
Apparently, this batteries are sufficiently different to require a new version of the SMC (System Management Controller).
This update requires Mac OS X 10.5.7 and you can download it here.
[Source]
Bloomberg is reporting that they have confirmation, directly from Apple, that Steve Jobs is back at work. It is also said that Jobs is working part-time from Apple’s headquarters, and part-time at home. As you may remember, Jobs reportedly returned to work at Apple last Monday, but today is the first word of confirmation from Apple. Here’s an excerpt:
Steve Jobs is back at work at Apple Inc., returning to his job as chief executive officer as planned after taking medical leave in January.
“Steve is back to work,” Steve Dowling, an Apple spokesman, said today. Jobs is at Apple a few days a week and working at home the remaining days, he said. “We are very glad to have him back,” Dowling said.
Not quite the press release I had in mind, but still Apple did release some sort of official statment.
Apple has seeded a new build (Build 10A394) to developers. The build is 655.3MB and is availible for download via Software Update. Apple’s characterisitcally scarce release notes are presnt here, stating the release improves stability, compatibility, and securtiy.
MacRumors also has reports that the Dock Expose feature shown at this year’s WWDC is presnt in the build.
You can read the full article here.
Image courtesy of MacRumors.
AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is mulling over a price drop (7-10%) for their upcoming generation iMac line-up. Here’s what they have to say:
iMacs were just recently refreshed in March but will see another update by fall, at which time they’ll also be repositioned as more affordable offerings. Apple is reportedly mulling similar 7% – 10% price reductions alongside the introduction of those models, people familiar with the company’s thinking say.
I think this is very possible. It would certainly fall in line with Apple’s recent price cuts on their MacBook line of computers. Plus, AppleInsider reported in April that they expected Apple to announce price drops for both Macbooks and iMacs. The iMacs haven’t seen any price changes as of yet.
Macworld has released an article with some interesting findings. They have found that the new MacBook Airs are actually slower than the previous generation models. As you may remember, these new models were announced at this year’s WWDC with modest processor speed bumps and a nice $300-$700 price drop.
Here’s what Macworld had to say about it:
What’s weird about the new high-end MacBook Air model is that although it cost dramatically less than its immediate predecessor, it was also slower than that model. The late-2008 1.86GHz MacBook Air was faster than the new top-of-the-line model in 11 of our 18 tests, and as a result, the old system’s final Speedmark score was slightly higher. The low-end 1.86GHz model did a better job versus its predecessor, besting it on most tests and improving on its Speedmark score.
Macworld goes on to suggest that this is from Apple’s aggressive thermal managment.
I’m willing to accept this from Apple simply because ther was such a dramatic drop in price. I would wager that if the price had remained the same, there would be a much bigger public outcry, and rightfully so.
After being briefly allowed on the App Store, the updated version of the “Hottest Girls” has been removed from the store. The update allowed users to view nude photos, thus being the first App on the store to allow such content. Initially the developer of the app, Allen Leung, claimed he temporarily removed the app because of server load. Then Apple Public Relations reported to CNN that the app had been removed and that Apple will not distribute “porn” or other such content. Here’s an excerpt:
Apple will not distribute applications that contain inappropriate content, such as pornography. The developer of this application added inappropriate content directly from their server after the application had been approved and distributed, and after the developer had subsequently been asked to remove some offensive content. This was a direct violation of the terms of the iPhone Developer Program. The application is no longer available on the App Store.
Well, that was short lived. One very curious thing was pointed out by MacRumors, Apple’s rating systems does allow “Nudity”.
I usually have little to complain about when it comes to Apple. Most of the time they release products that are well beyond the rest of the industry. If there is one thing I wish they would improve on it is their broken App Store approval process.
I have several problems with the app store, but this is the biggest. They don’t seem to have a standard set of guidelines, and often cause confusion and frustration for developers. This incident with “Hottest Girls”, is just one in a long line incidents were Apple initially approves an app then pulls it from the store.
So, what I have to say to Apple, is simple. Fix it.
Admob released a report earlier in the week that revealed 44% of iPhone traffic throught their ad network on June 20th, came from an iPhone running the recently released 3.0 software.
Tapbots released numbers of their own, showing adoption rates over a longer period of time (starting prior to WWDC), for the iPhone 3.0 software on the iPhone to sit at about 75%.
On the same day and the same network only 1% of iPod Touch traffic came from a device running the 3.0 software.The update costs $9.95 and most of the new features included in the iPhone 3.0 software are geared toward iPhone hardware, features like MMS and tethering.
Tapbots places iPod Touch customers using 3.0 at little more than 50%. Lower than the iPhone numbers but considerably higher than admobs numbers.
The only thing we can safely conclude from this is that iPod Touch owners simply aren’t updating to 3.0 as fast as iPhone owners.
This doesn’t surprise me, people don’t want to pay for something everyone else is getting for free. Apple originally charged $19.99 for the 1.1.3 update back in January 2008. People complained and Apple dropped the price to $9.95 for the 2.0 release last summer. They again charged $9.95 for the 3.0 update this year.
The reason Apple does this is for accounting purposes. iPhones are subscription based products and thus follow one set of accounting rules. Rules that don’t require Apple to charge for the update. As for the iPod Touch, it is a stand alone product, it follows a different set of accounting rules and thus an amount is required to be charged for the update. However, the amount Apple charges is strictly up to them.
Images courtesy of Admob.
Google announced today that mobile uploads (meaning uploads coming directly from mobile devices) to YouTube have seen a 400% increase since June 19. That date of course coincides with the release of the iPhone 3GS which supports mobile uploading to YouTube.
Google also notes that there has been a 1700% increase in uploads over the past six months.You can read the full announcement here.
This proves to me that Apple is dedicated to making their products “just work”. I would guess the increase in uploads wouldn’t be nearly as dramatic if the user experience wasn’t so seamless.
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