Posts tagged Apple
Get a look at the couple of screenshots for the new Facebook for iPhone 3.0 app
Aug 16th
Just now we informed you about the Facebook for iPhone 3.0 almost ready for release. Well we have got an update on that. The Facebook app for iPhone has been submitted to the Apple’s App store for reviewal and approval. This once again pushes our claim that very soon the facebook app will be hitting the app store. For now, just take a look at the screenshots below. These screeshots depict the status update and navigation screens.
As I said previously, we wont have to wait for much for the facebook app to arrive at the app store simply because Apple can’t risk or afford rejecting such a high profile and a much anticipated iPhone app.
Facebook for iPhone 3.0 almost ready for a launch
Aug 16th
We have previously informed you about what Facebook for iPhone 3.0 will bring to you. Well we have got news in that regard. Facebook for iPhone 3.0 is almost ready to be released as Facebook’s Joe Hewitt says. Hewitt believes that the finishing touches for the app which includes things such as translating into various languages and installing updated icons among other things are 99% complete.
However there is one point that is worth mentioning and noticing, the App has to go to the Apple App store team for approval, which may take time (How much I am not so sure). However I personally think that
There is no doubt in the fact that Facebook for iPhone is one the most important thing an iPhone users. About 25% of all iPhone owners use Facebook to connect with their loved ones.
Why is this app being translated into various languages. Here is why. About 70% of Facebook users are based outside America. What this step will do is it will ensure that app is spread across the globe so that everyone can benefit from it. Just about 50% if iPhone and iPod touch users are in United States.
Want to know what are the various features that this app will bring to facebook users. Have a look at the link posted below
Facebook for iPhone 3.0 and its features
99% of iPhone 3GS users are satisfied
Aug 15th
RBC Capital and ChangeWave research conducted a survey from 4th till 11th August for determining how many users were satisfied with their iPhone 3GS phones and Pre phones. That survey depicted that 99% of iPhone 3GS users are satisfied with what they are getting from the latest version of iPhone. Interestingly only 200 3GS users took the survey.
Similarly 40 Pre Owners took the survey. Among them 87% were satisfied (45% very satisfied, 42% just satisfied). Mike Abramsky of RBC said:
that’s the highest score ever recorded in our prior Palm satisfaction surveys and above all other manufacturers except RIM (48%) and Apple (82%).
iPhone 3GS Touch Screen Interface was liked by 45% of the owners. 55% of 3GS users disliked the AT&T’s network.
Similarly on the Palm’s Pre smartphone side, 47% of the users highly appreciated the Touch Screen Interface. 55% of the users disliked the short battery life.
Should Apple be really excited about this report, considering the fact that only 200 users took the survey.
Next version of Office for Mac due by 2010
Aug 14th
The next version of Office for Mac is reported to be arriving by 2010 and it will be bundled with a new version of Outlook.
Outlook for Mac will replace the Entourage, that is the current email and calendar program in the Mac Office suite. The Mac version of outlook will still differ from the Windows version of outlook. It is claimed to be having extra support for more Exchange features such as public folders and rights management features.
Previously, Office for Mac had a version of Outlook which was replaced with Entourage program by Microsoft. The reason was that version lacked a good connection with Exchange.
Eric Wilfrid, Microsoft Mac Business Unit general manager, said:
We’ll bring forward all the functionality from the Entourage Web Services Edition, including public folders, managed folders, and category syncing, but with Outlook we’re going even further and building a whole new application.
On the other side, Apple, too, has worked on its email program in its forthcoming Snow Leopard operating system. At least we can say that Apple claimed that they worked to support Exchange within its own mail program and it will add Exchange capabilities from Mail as part of the coming Snow Leopard operating system.
Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis at Interpret LLC, said:
Apple is going after business users with these types of features,There are still some things Outlook could offer that Apple’s integration with Exchange might not offer — we’ll have to see. But it will be more than a year [after Snow Leopard]. That’s going to give Apple a pile of time to evangelize to folks.
Eric Wilfrid said on a conference call that he could not comment on Snow Leopard, in terms of Exchange support, since Apple has not released the new operating system or any detail that how the Exchange support will work.
Wilfrid also commented on the rumors that Microsoft might be working on mobile versions of Office for the iPhone.
Wilfrid said:
That’s been a popular question. No, there is no news today about any iPhone work.
Few days back, on wednesday, Microsoft announced a partnership with Nokia that was to bring mobile versions of the software maker’s Office programs onto Nokia phones running the Symbian operating system.
Microsoft also plans to bring Visual Basic support back in the next version of Office for Mac. Microsoft said that it will launch a new “business edition” of its Office for Mac product that adds improved connections to SharePoint and Exchange Server.
The new “business edition” will join the existing Home and Student edition on September 15. The new business edition, which will sell for the same $399 as the standard edition of Office.
Will we see an Apple tablet on 7th September?
Aug 14th
The much–rumored September Apple event is edging closer to reality. Multiple music industry sources confirmed that Apple executives have told them that, Apple is planning keynote event for the week of September 7. As music is being integral to the iPod, it appears at least some of the major labels will be taking a bow in Cupertino. But truly speaking it is still unknown that what will be shown in this event.
Two years ago, Apple introduced the iPod touch, which has since become a key part of the company’s arsenal. Last year, the event featured less substantial changes, like an overhaul of the iPod Nano.
If Apple has tipped off music industry executives, this event will incorporate music in some way. Also it will show off the new “Cocktail” format that Apple has been working on, which bundles full-length albums with other goodies like album covers and interactive bells and whistles.
But unless the company unveils its so-called iTablet, a touchscreen device that’s supposed to be a cross between an iPhone and a full-fledged MacBook laptop computer, there are going to be a lot of disappointed Apple acolytes.
The other big appearance the Apple faithful will be looking for will be Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who hasn’t made an official public appearance since a keynote presentation last October.
Jobs took time to dismiss reports that he was in failing health and its the story of September 2008. But in January, Jobs said a “hormone imbalance” and he stepped away from day-to-day leadership at the company, and later news said that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant last spring. He’s been officially back at work since late June.
Nokia: Symbian remains our choice for smartphones
Aug 12th
Financial Times previously spread a rumor that Nokia might dump the Symbian operating system and instead go for LinuxOS, Mameo. The rumor spread like a fire and it was reported by numerous blogs.
Well here is a twist in the tale. Symbian will soon release an overhauled version of its operating system later this year and will eventually release it to developers and handset makers.
Given that Nokia had bought shares worth $410 million on Symbian before open sourcing it, I couldn’t buy into the story. A similar non-sensical rumor had surfaced a few months ago and was quickly shot down by Nokia.
Today, Nokia spokesperson dismissed the rumor:
We absolutely remain committed to Symbian and S60. Symbian remains our choice for smartphones and we’ll continue to see enhancements that further the value and experiences on this platform.
Nokia is working on non-smartphone devices such as the N900 tablet. Maemo is the operating system for Nokia’s Internet tablets.
The spokesman further said:
However, recognizing that the value we bring to the consumer is increasingly represented through software, there is logically not just one software environment that fits all consumer and market needs,
He went on saying that:
In addition, as we’ve stated before, we also continue to explore opportunities around a new class of devices that we see as the next segment of high performance mobile devices. Maemo is very much part of that thinking but of course there’s nothing new to announce in this regard.
Many of us truly believe that Nokia and Symbian are slow in their response to the challenges posed by other Internet mobile operating systems: Google’s Android, Palm’s WebOS and Apple’s iPhone OS.
Apple and Google had an unofficial poaching agreement
Aug 10th
These days, quite hot news are seen on the scene when it comes to Google and Apple jointly. The latest development is that Apple and Google had a poaching agreement, mind you an unwritten and an unofficial poaching (to go after another company’s talent) agreement. According to this agreement Apple and Google were not allowed to go after each other employees. To make it more clear, Google would not hire Apple employees and vice versa. However the employees of each company were given the freedom to apply for a job in the other company.The truth and existence of this agreement has been confirmed from former Google employees.
U.S Department of Justice in June decided to look into this issue to determine the possibility of antitrust violation taking place between various tech companies which include Apple and Google as well. TechCrunch has shown an email that confirms the existence of this agreement. In this email a recruiter at Google rejects an employee once he realized he is an employee at Apple.
Thanks for getting back to me. I don’t believe that we have been in contact previously – apologies if I am wrong about this.
From your reference to the [APPLE DIVISION], I take it that you are currently working there. If this is the case, we will not be able to proceed with your application. Google has an agreement with Apple that we will not cold call their staff. If you are not currently working at Apple and are interested in learning more about [A GOOGLE DIVISION] please let me know and I would be happy to chat with you.
Well, here you have it. I wonder what will be the next story related to Apple and Google that I will be sharing with you.
Microsoft expresses interest in HTML 5 editor’s draft
Aug 9th
Even though Microsoft did not participate in the creation of a new version of HTML i.e. HTML 5, Microsoft has expressed interest in HTML 5 editor’s draft. It is interesting to note that Apple, Google, Opera and Mozilla were the entities that actively participated in the creation of the latest HTML standard. IE Program Manager Adrian Bateman sent a letter to World Wide Web Consortium. In that letter, Bateman expressed and shared their thoughts, observations and queries. The letter said:
As part of our planning for future work, the IE team is reviewing the current editor’s draft of the HTML5 spec and gathering our thoughts. We want to share our feedback and discuss this in the working group
I will post our notes as we collect them so we can iterate on our thinking more quickly. At this stage we have more questions than answers, but I believe that discussing them in public is the best way to make progress.
The new features that HTML5 will bring are:
- Built-in video.
- Built-in audio.
- Store date on a local computer thus using the web application in the offline mode as well.
- Web Workers that can perform computational chores in the background without bogging down Web application responsiveness.
- Canvas for creating sophisticated two-dimensional graphics, and drag-and-drop for better Web application user interfaces.
All I can say is that HTML 5 will bring with it new, exciting and cool features.
Google Voice coming to iPhone but as a web app
Aug 8th
Every one is aware of Apple’s controversial decision. Yes I am talking about Apple’s decision to reject Google Voice. And you may also be aware that FCC is looking into that decision. Well this post is really interesting and is surely going to give headache to Apple and not to forget AT&T as well. The news is that Google is working on Google Voice and is planning to release it as an iPhone optimized web app. The NewYorkTimes was the source that revealed this interesting news. According to them:
Google says it is readying a replacement for the Google Voice app that will offer exactly the same features as the rejected app—except that it will take the form of a specialized, iPhone-shaped Web page. For all intents and purposes, it will behave exactly the same as the app would have; you can even install it as an icon on your Home screen.
So what will be the next dirty thing Apple will be planning. The only option now that I can think of is to block the URL that users will use to access the app. But will the authorities accept this attitude if Apple decides to carry out this action.
Apple starts blackmailing its own consumers, asks a family to remain silent over their burnt iPod
Aug 4th
I myself could not believe the first time I read this news, but believe me this has infact happened. It seems Apple has started blackmailing people to hide their own faults and cover up their mistakes. In just a moment you would know why I am saying all these things. Very briefly, Apple blackmailed a family to remain silent if they wanted to refund their burnt iPod.
An 11 year old girl named Ellie Stanborough had to suffer a horrible experience in which she also ended up losing her iPod. Apparently the girls iPod went 10ft into the air after it overheated and exploded. Ellie’s father, Ken accidentally dropped the iPod, after which the music player started making a hissing noise and went up in a big plume of smoke. Here is how Ellie’s father describes the whole incdient:
I could feel it getting hotter and I thought I could see vapour. Within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air
The father contacted Apple to refund £162 for the iPod touch, and this is the point where the main event took place. There is an allegation that Apple agreed for the refund but only if the family agreed to remain quiet about the exploding incident. Stanborough even received letter from bosses which imposed a similar condition, but Mr Stanborough did the smart thing and refused to sign the letter. Regarding Mr Stanborough’s feeling about the letter he said:
I thought the letter was very disturbing.They are putting a life sentence on myself, my daughter and Ellie’s mum not to say anything to anyone.If we inadvertently did say anything, they would take litigation against us. I thought that was appalling. We didn’t ask for compensation, we just asked for our money back
The letter asked Ken to agree to keep the existence of this settlement agreement completely confidential and went on to add that the breach of this agreement would result in may result in Apple seeking damages and legal costs.
America’s Consumer Product Safety Commission is said to have 800 pages of documents on cases where iPods started to smoke or burst into flames.
So what next can we expect from Apple, after this incident pretty much any thing can be expected. Is the FCC’s inquiry orders for explaining the reasons for reject Google Voice taking its toll on Apple. Or is Apple doing this to shift people’s attention away from the Google Voice issue. Please do share your thoughts with us.
