The Winter Festival Of Artisanal Software
With the recent announcement of Facebook Places, it seems like Apple thought it was about time to showcase location apps in the App Store. So here it is, an “On The Grid” section [iTunes link] that lists apps such as Facebook, Gowalla, Foursquare and Twitter. The only paid app in this new section is GeoFences.
Check out “On the Grid - Location-based Apps” here.
Now here’s an interesting rumor from All Things Digital. Apple sent invitations for a press event on September 1st to selected media outlets yesterday, and the speculation began about what Apple will announce next Wednesday. There are so many rumors and reports floating around one may think Apple is coming out with a new iPad next week. The invitation mail contains an acoustic guitar, just to confirm that - like every year - it’s a music-related event.
According to All Things D, Apple won’t launch “iTunes Cloud” next week, but a web-based version of the Store with revamped social capabilities.
We’re hearing interesting rumors about Apple’s plans with the new Apple TV (or iTV) these days. Engadget was the first to speculate about the upcoming new device, suggesting a new name and its complete redesign - both in terms of hardware (a very small set-top box) and software (it should run a modified version of iOS).
Well, that’s pretty much stating the obvious, right? Not quite. iPad competitors (like the “inspired” Galaxy Tab) are coming out fast, some of them will be out by the holiday season and we all know that manufacturers can’t wait to start releasing hundreds of these products in the market. So one may think Apple will have to face some hard times going forward.
Market research firm iSuppli doesn’t think so.
A few minues ago Apple issued a new security update for Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.5, aimed at fixing PDF vulnerabilities (the same of iOS?), network interceptions and PHP vulnerabilities.
Check out the full changelog after the break. Security update is available now in Software Update.
So much for the iPad being a consumption-only device. We got it month ago, when we realized that Apple’s latest creation wasn’t meant for consuming content (though it’s great at it) but for creating, too. 11.000 approved apps in 4 months must mean something.
Still, with the iPhone things weren’t that great in 2007, when the device was just released and Apple wanted to persuade businesses and large IT corporations to adopt the device and massively deploy it to their employees. It didn’t happen: there weren’t apps tailored to IT users, there was no Exchange support, no encryption (a strong selling point of BlackBerry devices, or so they say), no possibility to deploy apps developed in house (actually, there was no App Store, either).
Not with the iPad. Businesses are loving it.
Earlier this morning Apple announced that iTunes U downloads have topped 300 million in over 3 years. More than 800 universities have iTunes U accounts, half of these institutions distribute content through the iTunes Store.
A very good result, and the prove that iTunes is growing large of great content. I just wonder how long Apple will allow iTunes to contain all this content, before moving to other solutions. Cloud distribution, anyone?
Check out the press release after the break.
Business Insider has just found out that Apple is rolling out to new iAd campaigns: one for AT&T’s $15 monthly data plan and one for “The Switch” movie Jason Bateman and Jennifer Anniston, which debuted last week.
I haven’t been able to test them, but from what I read on BI’s report - they look great.
Mac computers have a very small share of the worldwide PC market: around 3.5%. Those are small numbers if you look at the big picture, but very important sources of revenue when it comes to Apple, which doesn’t license OSes but sells computers. You know the drill.
Now, what’s interesting to notice is that, according to Needham’s Charlie Wolf, the Mac is doing pretty good and growing fast in large enterprises.
