Brian X. Chen at Wired, on the default iPhone apps that aren’t present on the iPad:
But if you recall, the iPhone ships with some apps that appear to be left out from the iPad: Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos. What gives?
Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment, but I’m willing to guess Apple will just stick those apps in the App Store for a free download, and they’ll be the same apps as they were on the iPhone. After all, it’s unlikely there’s much to do with those particular apps to make them visually special for the iPad.
Actually, it’s sort of the opposite problem. It’s not that Apple couldn’t just create bigger versions of these apps and having them run on the iPad. There were, internally to Apple (of course), versions of these apps (or least some of them) with upscaled iPad-sized graphics, but otherwise the same UI and layout as the iPhone versions. Ends up that just blowing up iPhone apps to fill the iPad screen looks and feels weird, even if you use higher-resolution graphics so that nothing looks pixelated. It wasn’t a technical problem, it was a design problem. So they were scrapped by you-know-who. Perhaps they’ll appear on the iPad in some re-imagined form this summer with OS 4.0, but when the iPad ships next month, there won’t be versions of these apps. At least that’s the story I’ve heard from a few well-informed little birdies.
(There is, alas, no secret “widget” mode for iPad in OS 3.2, either.)
Some (maybe even most?) iPhone games will work well as-is, on the iPad. Not just technically, but in terms of being fun and feeling right. But non-game iPhone apps that are just upscaled on the iPad are going to feel weird. And the run the app in a little iPhone-sized rectangle in the middle of an otherwise black screen mode is even weirder, I think. A 3.5-inch screen is just totally different than a 10-inch screen.
On the whole, it’s actually rather un-Apple-like that they’re even allowing iPhone apps to run unmodified on the iPad. It’s a huge compatibility win, of course: an instant market of thousands and thousands of titles. Given the runaway success of the App Store and the fundamental technical similarities between the iPhone and iPad, it’s the sort of decision that most companies wouldn’t even think twice about. But it’s undeniably a sub-optimal user experience. iPhone apps on the iPad are a “good enough” thing, not an “exactly right” thing. Most companies — the ones that wouldn’t even see it as a tough decision whether to allow iPhone apps to run on the iPad — settle for “good enough” all the time. Apple, on the other hand, usually goes for “exactly right”.
I’ll go so far as to predict that by the time Monday April 5 rolls around, it’ll already be an established meme that non-iPad-optimized iPhone apps are to the iPad what Classic apps were to Mac OS X — something you’ll make do with “for now” but can’t wait to abandon for the real thing.
I’m not saying it’s a mistake that Apple is allowing the iPad to run iPhone apps. I’m just saying that the iPad is not a big iPhone.
In today's post, Gruber says that the little iPhone widget-type apps that shipped on the original iPhone — Stocks, Calculator, Clock, Weather and Voice Memos — won't ship on the iPad. And that blank key on the keyboard? It ain't gonna bring up no widget mode either.
So they were scrapped by you-know-who[Jobs]. Perhaps they’ll appear on the iPad in some re-imagined form this summer with OS 4.0, but when the iPad ships next month, there won’t be versions of these apps. At least that’s the story I’ve heard from a few well-informed little birdies. (There is, alas, no secret “widget” mode for iPad in OS 3.2, either.)
While this would be a bit of a bummer, it does give developers some freedom to build better apps for the iPad's screen without worrying about Apple coming in and destroying their market. Also, there's no shortage of apps that do these "default" functions already. The original iPhone needed a few apps. The iPad won't have any problems getting all of this functionality and more.
Apple Is Armed To The Teeth With Patents Compared To Google, HTC http://bit.ly/ddwu9u
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I already mentioned I’m on my way to GDC 2010 to cover the iPhone panel, and that iPhone gaming is getting big, so it’s interesting to see CNET reenforce just how big it’s getting:
strikingly absent among those 18 [Mobile Gaming] panels are any that deal with game development specifically for the iPhone. And why? Because for the first time, the GDC advisory board decided that Apple’s smartphone is an important enough platform to warrant its own summit. And it filled quickly.
Simon Jeffrey, vice president of social applications for leading iPhone game developer Ngmoco says:
“The iPhone is now recognized as a leading platform that’s independent from the mobile. People are specifically naming the iPhone as a threat to their businesses. Nintendo said the iPhone is taking customers away from [its popular] DS handhelds.”
The cost of entry is lower than Microsoft or Nintendo, and it’s getting more and more popular while still maintaining its cool factor.
While Android and Windows Phone 7 Series will bring the competition (and perhaps Palm as well), right now the iPhone is riding high on its head start.
iPhone No Longer “Mobile”, Big Enough to be Own Gaming Platform Now is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
TiPb - The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
Steve Jobs has spoken: Apple's "magical and revolutionary" iPad will not allow iPhone-to-iPad 3G tethering.…
AT&T's foray
Last week, it was announced that AT&T was replacing the market-leading, Google search on the Google Android powered Motorola Backflip with Yahoo's search. WHAT?
That's like selling In-N-Out Burgers except taking out the meat and replacing it with hospital-quality "Beef-like" patties. What is the point?
But AT&T wasn't done having their way with this poor Motorla Backflip.
AT&T's foray
Last week, it was announced that AT&T was replacing the market-leading, Google search on the Google Android powered Motorola Backflip with Yahoo's search. WHAT?
That's like selling In-N-Out Burgers except taking out the meat and replacing it with hospital-quality "Beef-like" patties. What is the point?
But AT&T wasn't done having their way with this poor Motorla Backflip.
Apple's iPad commercial during the Oscars generated a decent spike in buzz on Twitter for the company, but it was less than when the company put out a press release announcing the iPad's official sales date.
Trendrr, a firm that tracks brands on Twitter, found iPad mentions spiked to 8,876 per hour on Twitter at their peak during Sunday's Oscars telecast. On Friday, when Apple announced the iPad would go on sale April 3, the hourly mentions peaked at 9,902.
See Also:
Apple aired its first iPad ad during the Oscars last night, but it felt like something was missing, didn't it? It was a voiceover. So I went ahead and added one for them. You're welcome, Apple!
Oh, you thought the gaming news was all sunshine and roses for Apple today? Not so, reports Sebastian Anthony at Download Squad:
Apple, with its locked-down, isolated sandbox is in trouble. Do game developers have any reason to continue working on games for the iPhone or iPad now that Microsoft is offering so much more? […]
Can Apple really see themselves competing, with a minuscule desktop market share and 25% of the smartphone sector? Steve Jobs has announced Apple’s intent to move into mobile gaming, but can you really see developers siding with the iPhone when Windows Phone 7 is just around the corner?
This is interesting, as Apple has been blasted in the past by Carmack on several occasions for not working closely with game developers to make Mac development more feasible.
- Mark TrappApple vs. everyone else
Be passionate. Be rational.
Lead, don’t follow. Be cautious.
Aim to surprise. Aim to satisfy.
Be unreasonable. Be practical.
Innovate incessantly. Innovate here and there.
Sweat the details. Get it mostly right.
Think like an engineer, Think like an engineer,
feel like an artist. feel like an accountant.
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Apple has significantly more patents in its arsenal than either Google or Taiwan-based cellphone maker HTC, Fortune's Philip Elmer-DeWitt notes, via this chart from Deutsche Bank's Chris Whitmore. Apple is suing HTC for violating some 20 patents -- many in reference to Google's Android operating system, which HTC uses.
Between 2004 and 2007, when Apple was preparing the iPhone, it filed 507 patents, while Google filed just 67, and HTC filed none, according to the chart.
Filing for patents isn't the same as being awarded a patent, but it certainly shows that Apple has been more aggressive in terms of investing and innovating in technology -- or at least in seeking patent credit for its work. (And of course, many of Apple's patent filings were for work on other products; not just mobile stuff.)
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The music video below is pure viral marketing, but we’ll bite ’cause it’s got a catchy tune. ”Entrepreneur State of Mind” is a remake of Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind”, but with references to Facebook, YouTube, and (ahem) TechCrunch. Instead of singing “Now, you’re in New York,” the chorus goes “Now you’re the New Dork.” But they mean that in a good way.
Tech startups really need their own anthem. Until then, we’ve got remakes and parodies.
The video was made by Pantless Knights, the same people behind the Apple Fanboy rap. It was sponsored by Grasshopper, a virtual phone startup in Needham, Massachusetts. The company got their link, though. The bait worked.
Enjoy:
Looking for an alternative to the iPad that looks enough like Apple’s tablet to fool your friends into thinking you have one — until they see you start tapping on a start menu or playing Flash video? Then it looks like the upcoming HP slate might be the way to go.
HP has released a promotional video that markets the slate pretty much exactly the same was as Apple is marketing the iPad — except the HP slate will play web video from sites like Hulu, as you can see in the promotional video.
To drive home the point a bit more, the folks at Adobe have put out a five and a half minute video showing the tablet running Flash and Adobe AIR, which opens the tablet up to a whole world of applications that aren’t available on the iPad of iPhone.
You can find both videos after the break.
Of course, none of this should be surprising, because the HP slate has an x86 processor and runs Windows 7 — which means it can run pretty much any Windows application. It features the touchscreen features of Windows 7 including a rather awkward looking on-screen keyboard and multitouch gesture support for zooming, rotating, and performing other actions.
We still haven’t seen final pricing on the HP slate, but something tells me it ain’t going to come cheap. And with an x86 processor and a desktop operating system, I’m guessing we’ll be lucky if the HP slate gets half the battery life of the iPad. But hey, it supports Flash.
via Engadget
Post from: Liliputing
The HP slate: Imagine an iPad that plays Flash, runs Windows 7
Good news, college hoops fans: The NCAA March Madness iPhone app will support live streaming over both 3G and wi-fi this year.
The app will cost $9.99, and there will be a free "lite" version, which includes on-demand highlights but no live streaming. Last year, it was wi-fi only, but cost $4.99, or 50% less.
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Steve Ballmer has seen the future, and it's Twitter. Microsoft's CEO seemed far more excited by the microblogging startup than any of the offerings from his company during a three-and-a-half minute discussion with the BBC about coming technology.
You can watch the full video at the BBC, or view just the Twitter highlight above. If Ballmer's enthusiastic little Twitter story seems imprudent for an executive who is trying to make competing technology, just remember that it's probably the least lethal of Microsoft's big-name competitors. Unlike multi-billion-dollar competitors Apple and Google, or even $500 million+ Facebook, Twitter still counts its revenue in the tens of millions of dollars. How cute.
Steve Ballmer has seen the future, and it's Twitter. Microsoft's CEO seemed far more excited by the microblogging startup than any of the offerings from his company during a three-and-a-half minute discussion with the BBC about coming technology.
You can watch the full video at the BBC, or view just the Twitter highlight above. If Ballmer's enthusiastic little Twitter story seems imprudent for an executive who is trying to make competing technology, just remember that it's probably the least lethal of Microsoft's big-name competitors. Unlike multi-billion-dollar competitors Apple and Google, or even $500 million+ Facebook, Twitter still counts its revenue in the tens of millions of dollars. How cute.
Apple has been granted 10X as many patents as Google over last few years http://bit.ly/brZm3W via @philiped
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