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iPhone OS 4 Beta, iTunes Syncing and the Cloud

Elastic Threads has written an interesting post about the way Apple is slowly changing the way iTunes handles music synchronization between desktop computers and iPhone OS:

“What I’ve noticed with the OS 4 betas is that when I delete a track from my iPod Touch, it merely gets hidden from the Music app. I’m sure that if I changed enough data on my iPod that the actual blocks of memory in my iPod got written over, then the mp3 would be lost and to get the song back on my iPod, then iTunes would have to re-copy the mp3.

Instead, what happens is that if you delete a song, and then later have iTunes add that song back to your iDevice, it checks first to see if that song is actually still on your device’s SSD (just invisible to the Music app), and, if its still there it just un-deletes the track. Much faster. When I upgraded my iPod to OS 4 beta 4 and it deleted the 4,000 tracks that were currently on my iPod, it only took between an hour to two hours to sync all 30 GB of data back to my iPod; in OS 3 it took a whole night.”

We don’t know whether this is just a small change to optimize the sync process or a first step towards a real cloud sync, but sure Apple is thinking about it, now that Google has announced OTA music sync for Android and Lala has been shut down this morning. We just have to wait.

Adobe Announces Digital Viewer Technology for Magazines

Even if Steve Jobs doesn’t want Flash on his App Store, he can’t do anything about digital versions of magazines built using InDesign, it seems. Because in case you don’t know, that’s how Adobe together with Condè Naste created the first Wired app for iPad. And today Adobe has made things clear, and introduced their own Digital Technology Viewer software, which enables developers to create digital version of magazines using, indeed, InDesign.

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Google Dumping Windows Systems, Integrating Own Technologies

Google has had their fair share of press between Apple bashing, Android yapping, and TV flapping antics. While they’ve made great strides in web and mobile technologies, that doesn’t mean they’re still reeling from other, recent events. Remember when Google’s Chinese operations were hacked? Google blames the insecurities of Microsoft’s Windows as part of the problem.

As Google builds their own operating systems, they’ll slowly be phasing out Windows as they implement their own technologies. In the meantime, some employees are reportedly touting MacBooks due to the safety of the OS X platform.

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Apple Sued Over iAd Name

Apple certainly isn’t making any friends lately, as there are lawsuits galore. The latest corporate battle flag to be raised comes from Innovative Media, who trademarked the term iAds in 2006; I’m not sure if the trademark was filed in 2006 then approved in 2008 - the source, The Loop, recognizes both dates.

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Apple to Increase Foxconn Wages

In response to the dramatic situation over at Foxconn’s industrial factories, Engadget reports that Apple will begin to pay employees directly (assumably on only their product lines - but I could be wrong), increasing their monthly wages (by what amount isn’t currently specified). While it’s a step in the right direction, I feel that a simple pay-raise isn’t enough. Much regulation is needed to ensure fair & reasonable work (and employment) within Foxconn hell, as employees will still be subject to the intolerable, slave-like conditions they face on the assembly lines. Currently, Apple’s solution is a doable, temporary betterment while they and other companies are hopefully discussing with Foxconn on how to treat people like human beings instead of dogs.