Thursday, September 8, 2011
Daily deal: Marware SportGrip Edge for AT&T/GSM iPhone 4 only $4.95
Could we get an iPhone nano like the Cricket Android Vitality?
The especially awesome Phil Nickinson from Android Central went hands on with the Android powered Samsung Vitality on Cricket, and I have to say I liked what he saw quite a bit — namely:
As you’ll see in the video above, Muve is an easy-to-use music service. But what really makes it shine is that Cricket’s made the billing process as simple as can be. Actually, there is no billing. No per-song fee. You pay $65 a month for unlimited voice calls. And unlimited data. And unlimited Muve Music. And for our money, it doesn’t get much better than that.
Now TiPb’s heard going back to WWDC 2011 that Apple has an iPhone nano (or budget iPhone) type device pretty much done and ready to go, and TiPb’s since heard that it may not be getting the traditional plans on traditional carriers either (or at least that we might be surprised where it ends up.)
A stripped down, low cost iPhone is one thing when it still requires $100+ on monthly voice and data charges, but a low cost iPhone with a low cost plan like $65 a month to go with it? Super. Sweet.
Apple doesn’t compete in the bargain basement computer business. They kick it in the head with something like iPad or the new MacBook Air. But Apple does compete in the lower end MP3 player market with iPod shuffle and iPod nano, so they do understand the market for smaller, less expensive consumer electronics that still tie (not going to say seamlessly!) into their ecosystem.
Whether they ultimately pull the trigger on this, only Tim Cook now knows for sure, but again — inexpensive iPhone nano with a cheap $65 all-you-can eat service plan? That’ll bring a lot of young, mainstream more price sensitive, first phone and feature phone users into the Apple fold, wouldn’t it?
Check out Phil’s full hand’s on via the link below and then come back and tell me what you think — will we get an iPhone nano version of this deal?
Superfunctional 10: Core fitness
Geoff and Rene talk about the trend of core fitness, how it relates to functionality, and what to look for in a proper core fitness training program, be it Yoga, Pilates, MBF®, etc. (Yes, even one that you might pick to do on your iPad!). This is Superfunctional!
Saks Fifth Avenue using 64 iPads for its window display
Saks Fifth Avenue has found a rather innovative way to celebrate Fashion’s Night Out. Working with Stylelist and designer Gin Lane Media, it has produced an interactive window display using sixty four iPads in one window and nine 27-inch Apple Cinema Displays in the other two windows.
“The iPads are running a native iPad application specifically built for the installation,” said Dan Kenger, Digital Creative Director at Gin Lane Media. “Using a local network, which we setup, we are able to get all the iPads to talk to each other as well as perfect the timing to produce elegant fades and control what device should display what.”
The displays will feature images from Stylelist, tweets from around the world and even customer submitted photographs. If you want a chance to get your tweet or picture up on the display, just tag them with the hashtag #StylelistatSaks.
If anyone gets the chance to wander past the display, let us know what you think!
[The Loop]
Apple scraps music streaming for iPhone 5
Awhile back, Apple managed to generate a lot of buzz over a proposed update that would allow users to stream music directly to their iPhone 5. In a video that the company released, it showed a beta version of iTunes Match that allowed iOS users to store music in the iCloud and then stream the music directly to their iPhone 5 or any other iOS device. Now it seems, however, that this feature will not be featured in the new iOS versions. This was first noticed in the iOS 5 beta 7 that was released for developers.
The development does deserve a bit of attention because it gives us a rare glimpse of the ideas that bubble inside Apple’s head. Unlike its archrival Google, which just throws everything online and then works things from there, Apple only releases products online after a lot of careful research and development. Many great ideas have to be looked at multiple times before something is eventually released to the public, which also means we rarely get to see the creative drive within the company.
At the time of the release, people argued that it was not exactly streaming because the music was downloaded and temporarily stored on the iOS device’s cache. Still, it was unique and it allowed users to increase the memory and of the device by storing music and videos on-line on the cloud and then accessing it at any time. Thus, users will be spared the agony of having to delete their data every time they reach a limit. Perhaps, this is the reason why Apple has updated the feature so that when a user plays a track saved online, it is automatically permanently downloaded on to the iOS device. Whatever, the reason, it is a quite a disappointment. Perhaps we will get a better idea of Apple’s motives in time to come.
Foxconn factory producing 150,000 iPhone 5 units a day?
According to randomly accurate rumor site Digitimes, Foxconn is currently rolling out around 150,000 iPhone 5 units a day. The information comes from industry sources. Pegatron Technology who were thought to have won around 15% of the iPhone 5 manufacturing orders may not start shipping until 2012 according to the same sources.
Lens maker Largan Precision, touch panel maker TPK Holding, reinforced glass supplier G-Tech Optoelectronics and battery vendors Simplo and Dynapack are all operating at full swing currently, the sources indicated.
The iPhone 5 should reach shipment levels of 5-6 million units in September leading to over 22 million units in the fourth quarter. Suppliers will ship a lot less iPhone 4 models in the final quarter; it will probably become the entry level iPhone model. This would follow previous years where the current model becomes a cheaper model with a reduced storage capacity.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Google sells patents to HTC, HTC uses them to sue Apple
According to Bloomberg, Google — who previously never missed an occasion to whine about patents and patent litigation — seems to have been quietly buying patents of its very own from Palm, Motorola, and Openwave Systems, then sold them to HTC so HTC to use them to sue Apple. Pretty slick.
The lawsuit contends the Mac computer, iPhone, iPod, iPad, iCloud and iTunes are infringing patents for a way to upgrade software wirelessly; a way to transfer data between a microprocessor and a support chip; a method to store user preferences, and a way to provide consistent contact between application software and a radio modem.
HTC also amended a complaint with the International Trade Commission today, adding five of the former Google patents to a case that targets many of the same products. Three of those patents Google bought from Openwave and two others had been owned by Palm, which was acquired by Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) last year.
Apple originally sued HTC, and HTC has countersued before. The part that caught my eye is that HTC says they “will continue to protect its patented inventions” when Google just bought said inventions for HTC last week? Apple buys patents as well, from Fingerworks for multitouch to Nortel for LTE, and no doubt won’t waste any time asserting them, it’s just interesting wording on HTC’s part.
With Apple still suing Android manufacturers instead of Google directly, and Google now supplying arms to those manufacturers instead of going after Apple directly, one thing is for certain — we’re going to need a lot of popcorn.
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