Tag Archives: apple
After years of missteps, Apple finally got the cloud shortly before Steve’s death in 2011. Replacing MobileMe with iCloud brought a slew of new features to IOS devices. In-the-air syncing, iMessage, wireless backups and PC-free operation were great starts to the iCloud service, and I think the following additions will put Apple light years ahead of the competition.
1. Unify Apple IDs. I have a trail of Apple IDs dating back to the early days of the iTunes Music Store. My three or so IDs are tied to specific content that I don’t want to part with. And my iCloud Apple ID is different from my FaceTime ID which is different from my Apple Retail ID. Having the ability for Apple ID veterans to merge these identities would cut down on password headaches and improve the overall Apple experience.
2. Optional auto updates for apps. iOS4 does a great job of removing the digital housekeeping tasks from the end user but I find myself updating apps several times a week. I think there should be a setting to allow users to opt-in for nightly updates when available.
Read More
After a year of patience and a failed launch-day trek to the Apple Store on March 2, I’m finally the owner of a new Apple iPad 2.
The iPad is Apple’s flagship “post PC era” device, but I’m not sure we’re ready to ditch our laptop shackles just yet. The magical aura surrounding my unboxing of the product was cut short when I pressed the power button for the very first time. As the screen began to glow for the very first time, I was quickly met with the “must connect to iTunes” screen- no cosmic intro video or helpful setup assistant here. This might one day become a post-PC device, but not without a digital tether to the machines of today. I hope that future versions of iOS will allow some onboard functionality without the need to first connect to iTunes.
Once the iPad synced all my stuff- photos, podcasts and apps, it was time to see if this tablet could really fit in my digital life, or if it would live as the evil middle child between my Macbook and iPhone.
Adobe Releases New Flash-To-HTML5 Converter Called “Wallaby”
Adobe is stepping further into the HTML5 arena. Whether it’s pressure from Apple or the progressive movement towards standards-based technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript — it’s clear that Adobe’s heard loud and clear that developers need tools to create rich content without the requirement of their Flash plugin. Personally, while I see less and less value in most Flash-produced content, I’m rooting for Adobe to create a rich toolset that for producing rich content in all forms for the web.
QR Codes Are So 2010 — 2011 Is All About The NFC
In 2011, NFC has nothing to do with football — although you might be able to buy the next game’s tickets by swiping your cell phone at the ticket booth. NFC stands for Near-Field Communication, and it’s coming to a mobile platform near you. Near-Field Communications is a method for transferring bits of data over short distances. One popular use (already very prevalent in Japan as Mashable mentions) is mobile payments. A number of big players like Amazon, Google, Apple and Microsoft are already rumored to bring support for NFC-based technology to their existing platforms. Time will tell as to whether or not we’ll be able to replace our wallets with our phones.
Read More
SXSWi – it’s the birth of a proto-city: a hive of integrated people experimenting with the tools in the market that, without mass local adoption, would not have any poignancy. It’s where the early adopters can temporarily form a society of mutually founded infrastructure.
Obviously I like to consider myself a fairly early adopter. I am generally picking up the newest thing in beta and giving it a try. The proto-city certainly is a unique experience where these services just work and I’m not at the mercy of my family and friends to adopt the numerous new things I throw at them every week.
This week’s post is all about these services and how they work, a kind of preview to how they would work if a mainstream audience were to pick them up. There are some old and some new, but all based around the ever growing social–mobile & desktop–sector.
The prevailing theme this year was group messaging and location based services. Typically when you look back at SXSW there is one clear launch that will take hold and change the landscape of digital: Twitter, Foursquare, Gowalla, etc. I would say that this year there was no clear winner. This may be perhaps due to development becoming easier and faster than it was a couple years ago, which would correlate to SXSW being fettered with startup after startup, creating so much noise that no single one stood out.
There’s four services that I looked at primarily while down in Austin: Convore, Beluga, Hashable, & Yobongo.
The newest Apple Store that just opened in Austin on March 11 will be closing in 2 weeks… as planned.
It’s no surprise that the company that ‘thinks different’ thought differently about how to position themselves (and the new iPad 2) to the 13,000+ temporary SxSW residents of Austin. Once again, they did what now seems obvious… they found a great retail location, installed hardwood floors, painted the walls white and put oversized product hero shots in the windows… and they created this ‘pop-up’ store in 3 days.
What resulted was what we’ve now come to expect from the launch of any new Apple Product (read as slight upgrade): long line-ups, sold out product and lots and lots of conversation. The interesting part however was being there to witness the process of how that conversation radiated. From pre-opening tweets about a possible store (due to unusual amounts of Apple hooded employee sightings) to the posts and critiques about how Etsy had an even better temporary store, the conversation about the Apple Pop-Up moved like a wave into the presentations of keynotes and material of stand-up comedy and podcasts.
Three quick news items this week.
iPad 2
This is the obvious post – I’m sure you’ve heard of it. Cameras, faster processors, and 33% thinner. And white! Amazing. Check it out.
What do these features mean for marketing? There are the obvious uses of these new features on the consumer end. But how will the relate to things like customer service? Could companies start utilizing FaceTime for customer service, or product support? There is plenty of room for more innovation in this space, and it may help the adoption of FaceTime – something I seldom, if ever, use.
The feature that I am excited about is the bump in processing speed – something Apple needed to add so it would keep up with the onslaught of competitors ramping up to launch. The experience I have working with developers on projects is that the iPad has a limited ability to run deeper experiences, so more processing speed means bigger ideas, and better execution.
Lastly, the addition of HDMI capabilities means more ipad to TV relationships leading to an even bigger experience.
The App vs. Web Dilemma
An interesting article this week on the trends of how people are using their smartphones – and the consensus is that the browser based experience is being left behind. Sure there seem to be uses called out for browser based experiences, like news, search and commerce, but web use on mobile devices is now 37% lower than app use.
