The new iPod Touch is good but it’s not an iPhone 4. In fact, it hasn’t got the same Retina Display (no IPS technology for iPod Touch users) and it can’t shoot photos as well as the iPhone 4 can. Particularly, iPod Touch users have been looking for a way to enable HDR photography, and now thanks to HDREnabler (version 1.1-1) available for free in Cydia they can. Read more
HDREnabler Brings HDR Capabilities To The iPod Touch | Cydia
FaceTime Does Work In The Middle East, With The iPod Touch
The “FaceTime in the Middle East” saga is undergoing another major development today: according to website iRamadah (Google Translation, via 9to5) Apple’s video calling system is working perfectly fine, only with an iPod Touch 4th generation. We have previously reported about the weird removal of all FaceTime images and mentions from Apple’s eastern websites, then Apple itself posted a supported document regarding the absence of FaceTime in certain Middle East countries due to problems with the carriers. Read more
Mark Zuckerberg Checks In At Jobs’ House For Dinner
Apple wants to make Ping work. The music-based social network is struggling to gain traction, and Steve Jobs needs to figure out a way to let people engage with the system and share data with their contacts - all in order to collect more data and drive more clicks to the iTunes Store. It’s a good plan, but it’s not working as expected because Apple hasn’t got the social infrastructure Facebook has. So Steve invited Facebook’s CEO over at dinner to discuss some Ping related stuff including Facebook integration, the Los Angeles Times reports:
They are two of Silicon Valley’s most famous founders: Jobs created the world’s must-have gadgets, Zuckerberg the world’s most popular social networking service. These days they are often mentioned in the same breath. Now apparently the two also recently broke bread.
Apparently Jobs invited Zuckerberg for dinner at his house to talk about Ping two weeks ago. That’s when a tipster spotted them on a stroll in Palo Alto.
iLife and iWork Backordered at BestBuy - Announcement On Wednesday?
9to5mac noticed that both iLife ‘09 and iWork ‘09 are currently backordered at BestBuy.com. Shipping times for the two software suites have been delayed to 1 / weeks, which usually means BestBuy is short on units and an update is coming.
On Wednesday, October 20th Apple is having its “Back to the Mac” media event. Mac’s not dead, and it’s about time for an iLife and iWork update. We’re waiting.
Leaked Picture Of The New MacBook Air?
Engadget just posted a picture of what appears to be the inside of the new MacBook Air, the one Apple is going to announce on Wednesday at the “Back to the Mac” event. The picture doesn’t show a 11.6-inch chassis, but a regular 13-inch one with extra room for battery cells and no hard drive. Does this confirm that Apple managed to stuff a SSD somewhere else in the unibody structure?
How Much Money Can You Make On The App Store?→
How Much Money Can You Make On The App Store?
Dylan Ginsburg, developer of River of News for iPad (which I reviewed here), quits his day job to become a full-time iOS developer. As a first step, he posts the results of RoN in the App Store so far.
“OK, what about satisfaction with my work? I don’t have a chart for that but I don’t think I need one. Developing River of News has been the most rewarding “work” of my life. It’s not even close. My sleeping is all screwed up because I keep thinking about how I can make my software better. That’s right, “my software.” What a great thing to be able to say. I’ve gotten such tremendous satisfaction from creating something that people use and like.
Less money, more satisfaction. What do I do?
I resigned from my job this week. My employer treated me well and I thank them but I’ve got a shot to do something amazing and I’m not going to pass it up. If I can be successful at this then all I need to earn a living is a laptop and an internet connection. I can do that anywhere in the world and on my own schedule. Wow. That’s a life changer.”
It is indeed. $20,000 in two months is not bad, but he could get a lot more with full-time development. I bet he will. Also, developers:
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. I’ve always had a reliable salary and a good standard of living. But I’m taking my shot.”
It’s stories like this one that keep the App Store running. Take your shot.
Thin Air
Steve Jobs, at the iPad announcement in January:
Everybody uses a laptop and a smartphone.
And a question has arisen lately: is there room for a third category of device in the middle? Something that’s between a laptop and a smartphone. And of course we’ve pondered this question for years as well. The bar’s pretty high. In order to really create a new category of devices, those devices are going to have to be far better at doing some key tasks.
Better than a laptop. Better than a smartphone.
Now, some people have thought…that’s a netbook. The problem is, netbooks aren’t better at anything. They’re slow, they have low quality displays and they run clunky old PC software. So, they’re not better than a laptop at anything. They’re just cheaper. They’re just cheap laptops. We don’t think they’re a new category of device.
According to the latest rumors we’re hearing today, Apple is going to announce a new, smaller, thinner MacBook Air on Wednesday. A 11.6-inch MacBook Air. Some people are saying Steve Jobs will revise his position and carry a new shiny netbook on stage. In my opinion, that’s not gonna happen.
By definition, netbooks are small, lightweight and inexpensive laptop computers. By Jobs’ definition, netbooks are slow, low-quality and unusable laptop computers. In Steve Jobs’ mind, inexpensiveness equals cheapness. Lightweight OS equals clunky old software. He doesn’t see the current generation of netbooks as a viable alternative to bigger, more powerful notebooks.
If Apple’s really going to announce a smaller MacBook Air that many people could call “a netbook”, that device is going to be a “smaller, thinner, yet powerful laptop computer” in Jobs’ definition. An even faster, high-quality and lightweight MacBook Air, ultra-portable and super-usable. Something like that.
Apple is not going to release a netbook as we know it. Just like they didn’t release a regular smartphone in 2007. If the rumor’s true, I’m ready to bet on a new way - perhaps more expensive, but classy - to intend small laptop computers.
Noteshelf: A Handwriting App for iPad I Can Actually Use
I remember the iPad launch day. I also remember the grand opening of the iPad App Store - actually, we were the first ones to take a sneak peek inside it. Between the excitement and the geek dreams of a new device that would change the face of computing as we knew it forever, we didn’t really pay attention to the apps that were being submitted for approval. Six months later, it’s very easy to spot one of the best selling categories in the iPad App Store: handwriting apps. Note taking applications that let you write on the iPad’s big screen using your fingers or, if you have one (I do), a stylus. Penultimate was one of the first notable apps to sell zillions of copies.
See, I’m not usually huge on these apps. I’m faster with a keyboard, I never really got myself into a situation where taking notes manually was necessary, most of these apps don’t come with the proper exporting capabilities I need, namely Dropbox, Mail or Evernote. While they’re pretty to look at and cool to show off to your friends, I didn’t really find much value in them besides using them every once in a while to draw some random mockups.
In-App Purchases Overtaking Ads in iOS
Back in June of 2009, Flurry posted an article talking about “The Awesome Potential of iPhone In-App Purchases.” Well, today, they have the facts and figures to prove it. According to Flurry’s study, conducted using some of the leading iOS apps with 2.2 million users combined, in-app purchases are the leading source of revenue for social networking and social gaming applications.
