iPad As A Communal Device→

iPad As A Communal Device

First, we must think of the computer (PC). It may not be very personal, but it is made for the individual. Same goes for the laptop. Same for a netbook. Same for a smartphone. The iPad, however, is *communal*. Actually, more than that. The iPad is at once both personal and communal. This has never before existed in computing and it is the combination of price and form factor that makes it so. The iPad is another Apple trebuchet that will destroy barriers, gates, walls and re-make the current state of computing.

Brian makes several good points in his piece. The iPad is meant for a new era of computing based on collaboration, open workspaces and apps. The “other tablets”, the seven inchers, are meant for personal use.

I don’t know about the Playbook (a very few people have actually tested it so far), but I do know the iPad is great for “local collaboration”. Great for games, meetings, sketches, and so forth.

As for built-in online collaboration, we’re all waiting.

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MobileMe Wants (And Needs) To Be Free→

MobileMe Wants (And Needs) To Be Free

Interesting piece by Charles Jade at GigaOM:

By making MobileMe free, those using it with iOS devices won’t be using services from Google or Microsoft, which makes switching to Windows Phone 7 or Android more difficult. While PC users would also have MobileMe free, they’d need to have iOS devices to make it really worth using. The Halo Effect, which argues that iOS device sales later lead to Mac sales mitigates the loss associated with giving away MobileMe to PC users in the present. If they do switch, free MobileMe helps encourage them to remain all-Apple in the future. Free MobileMe would be an investment in hardware customer retention, and it doesn’t even have to be completely free.

MobileMe is not a fundamental source of revenue for Apple. Apple makes money by selling mobile devices and computers. In fact, sales of software in the last quarter (which include OS X, iLife and iWork, among other things) generated $662 million. A free MobileMe – or at least the basic parts of it – would be an investment to keep people on the Apple ecosystem.

Jade also writes:

The point is lock-in. Get people using Apple’s free services with Apple’s highly profitable hardware, and they’ll be less likely to buy hardware from competitors.

Or, get people used to the integrated system.

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Apple Finally Has A Better Short URL for Ping: iTun.es

Tonight I went out to show some friends of mine Infinity Blade for the iPhone (they all loved the graphics, by the way) and when I came back home 10 minutes ago I decided I would take 10 minutes to check out The Smith’s albums that were released in the iTunes Store earlier today.

I had configured my Ping account to share items on Twitter, so I clicked the “Post” button and noticed something interesting: Apple has finally deployed a new short URL for Ping tweets, itun.es. The itun.es domain was purchased by Apple years ago, and since Apple announced the Ping - Twitter integration in November many thought itun.es would be a great option for those tweeted items. The itun.es links are now ready to go and they show up in the iTunes Store when sharing a song / album on Twitter. Read more

Cydia Is Coming To The Mac

Well, well. Look what we have here. We’ve been hearing rumors all week about the Mac App Store launching soon, we found out that the upcoming store won’t allow Mac developers to generate promo codes and won’t feature in-app purchases and Game Center integration, Apple clarified its position on demos and trials.

Now Jay Freeman, a.k.a. Saurik, creator of popular alternative store Cydia for jailbroken devices, told the attendees of 360|MacDev that Cydia is coming to the Mac. Read more

Angry Birds Developers Launching Their Own Pig-Based Payment System

Rovio, the crazy folks who developed Angry Birds, are planning to launch their own mobile payment system.

Wait, what?

Not only did they sell more than 12 million copies on their iOS and Android game, now they want more money, too? Easy, nerds. The system they have set up, properly named “Bad Piggy Bank”, will be initially rolled out in Finland (Rovio is based in Helsinki) through the nation’s biggest mobile carrier, Elisa. The Angry Birds-themed system will let you easily pay for Rovio’s apps, games and bonus stuff by taking money from your monthly cellular bill. Sounds simple. Read more

Cobra iRadar for iPhone Will Let You Avoid Speed Traps

Driving too fast for the law? You shouldn’t, seriously. But if you just like to test your car’s performances every once in a while and you want to get caught by a speed trap, we may have an app for that. The Cobra iRadar, an iPhone app you have to pair via Bluetooth with a tiny black handset, will identify commonly known speed traps, cameras and intersections for you.

The app [iTunes link] comes with a good number of control settings and, truth be told, it also looks beautiful – although we wouldn’t recommend to look at the sexy pixels while driving.

Retail price is $170, but we heard it’s available at $100 if you know where to look. Check out all the details on Cobra’s website. [via]

Zombie + Snow White = Etsy iPad Sticker

ZOMG! Now we’ve seen it all. Walt Disney would roll in his own grave if he wasn’t already a zombie. This Snow White only eats Apple Fan Boy hearts! A creepy twist on a popular genre and look at the scary detail on this thing! But in all seriousness, this is creepy cool - just peel and stick this die-cut vinyl decal on your iPad. It’s from Etsy for $15 and also available for MacBooks and iPhones.

Read more

Free iPad GUI PSD For iOS Designers→

Free iPad GUI PSD For iOS Designers

We’ve always just created this file for ourselves and shared it freely. It takes a good deal of time to create and maintain but it saves us a lot of effort on projects and pitches – we hope it does the same for you. So, this time around we’re asking anyone who actually gets some use out of it to pay whatcha’ like. Hate it? Don’t pay anything.

Free to download, pay if you like. Go get it here.

By the way, it’s from the creators of TweetMag.

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How Soon Is Now? The Smiths *Now* On iTunes

Short version: The Smiths are now on iTunes, as reported by TUAW. Long version: no, the popular band from Manchester didn’t get the same kind of attention granted to another English band we’ve heard a certain CEO is a big fan of.

Apple’s promotion aside, yeah – you can check out The Smiths on the iTunes Store here. Seven albums are available, a bunch of music videos and before you ask: The Queen Is Dead, Meat Is Murder and The Smiths are all available for purchase. At least the band got a nice profile page.

Perhaps the Smiths’ arrival on iTunes won’t be regarded as a day we’ll never forget by Apple, but Morrissey and Marr are in there, guys. Morrissey and Marr’s band.

I’m off to download now.