iLounge

Google's Schmidt: Android winning mobile war over Apple

I think basically you’re up the creek either way. With iOS, you get exactly what Apple wants you to have (for good or bad). With Android, you get what’s left after the carriers add bloatware and disable features.

Schmidt and co. can brag all they want about Android but a good portion of their success is due to Apple’s self-inflicted black eye - otherwise known as the AT&T exclusivity agreement.

Posted by Paul A. on December 13, 2012 at 2:52 PM (PST)

Amazon Instant Video arrives for iPhone, iPod touch

Apple, Please add this to AppleTV also! Pretty Please?

Posted by MilMascaras on December 13, 2012 at 1:30 PM (PST)

Amazon Instant Video arrives for iPhone, iPod touch

Sweet Jebus! Finally I can get some use out of my long running Prime subscription other than the awesome 2 day shipping.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 13, 2012 at 9:17 AM (PST)

Apple patent reveals advanced call waiting system

This patent looks a lot like the system in use on iOS 6.

Posted by Jonathan on December 13, 2012 at 8:32 AM (PST)

Apple patent reveals advanced call waiting system

Again I bang my head on my desk in amazement that you can patent something that was blindingly obvious the minute a smart phone existed because the *ideas* here go back decades.

This isn’t an idea to patented, this is simply a feature that would be implemented at some point in the cellular market regardless of whether Apple even existed. The impediment to this coming to market is not new technology or actual inventions, it’s a matter of hardware vendors banging together the right agreements with the carriers and then writing some otherwise simplistic code to handle it. In essence, it’s in the same spirit as customized rings for who is calling - bet Apple wishes they’d had the foresight to patent that as well.

This patent has the polar opposite effect of what the patent is supposed to do: foster innovation and competition by protecting ORIGINAL INVENTIONS. This is an obvious idea, aka not original, and it’s an idea, aka not an invention, so the only purpose of this patent is to try and stop other hardware makers from implementing the feature by lawyer fiat, aka stifling innovation and competition.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 13, 2012 at 7:51 AM (PST)

Google's Schmidt: Android winning mobile war over Apple

I worked for Eric Schmidt at Sun Microsystems. Great Guy. Very smart and talented for an executive. That said, I use both Android 4.21 and iOS 6.0.1 everyday. While users can have more control over Android, the apps, tight integration and easy of use on iOS is much, much better. I tend to have fun on my Android devices like the Nexus 7 - I really use my iPhone and iPad for business and real serious / stable work and integration with PC and Macs.

Posted by Tekkies on December 12, 2012 at 4:25 PM (PST)

Google's Schmidt: Android winning mobile war over Apple

The raw numbers in terms of installed base are indeed very much in Android’s favor, but Android’s monetization has yet to prove superior in the larger market in spite of such a lop sided market share advantage.

First, there’s no direct profit for the OS itself. So, while it is obvious Google believes in it for now and continues to throw a lot of money at it, there’s no solid reason to assume that will continue in perpetuity. Once the business model changes, all bets are off. Most of Google’s partners are supporting them because Google is effectively giving them many millions of dollars worth of R&D and licensing every year for free, allowing both carriers and hardware makers to push their products at a seemingly lower price point than Apple or Microsoft’s yet pocketing a greater profit margin. What happens if Google decided they need to actually make something off of all this work beyond PR and fuzzy feelings? Or just handed off the project back to the open source community where it started?

Second, the 3rd party Android app market place is a hot mess, a *deliberate* choice on Google’s part, and while the gap has narrowed in recent years, Apple is still obviously ahead in terms of top shelf 3rd party developers. Until Google can find some way to close the developer game completely or, better yet, surpass Apple in courting first rate developers, Android is going to largely be ‘whatever it was that came with my “free” phone’ or a nearly unrecognizable mod (e.g. Amazon’s Kindle).

Last, while it may wind up there, likening this to the Apple vs. Microsoft battle in the 90s seems premature and distorting of the context. Apple didn’t just fail because of ever widening market share matters, they failed because a majority of people actively preferred Windows (no matter what the fruit faithful tell themselves, I should know, I made the switch in 1998 and never regretted it once). Conversely, I have a single friend who is familiar with both Android and iOS and prefers Android, all the others have already made the switch to iOS or wish they could but haven’t yet for carrier/contract reasons. Unlike the Mac, the iPhone is still what most people who actually care consider the gold standard. Until that changes, market share is only a small part of the story.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 12, 2012 at 9:43 AM (PST)

Google's Schmidt: Android winning mobile war over Apple

iOS still maintains 85%+ of mobile web traffic. That’s what generates the $$ and what should really be the important factor

Posted by Yawn on December 12, 2012 at 9:33 AM (PST)

Report: Apple rejects Microsoft SkyDrive updates over 30% cut

I’m taking a “wait and see” approach, since we saw a similar firestorm with the Dropbox app back in the spring before it became clear that the issue was simply a link on the sign-in page that would have allowed users to sign up for a paid account.  A very silly issue, to be sure, but not nearly as dramatic as Apple trying to kill a competitor.

Remember that right now the information in this article is coming from “sources close to Microsoft” and it’s likely there’s still some other subtle issue.  For instance, Microsoft’s “compromise” may have been to remove the IAP functions, but they may be refusing to modify links that appear on sign-in web pages (in the manner that Dropbox was ultimately forced to do).

While Apple’s policy of taking a 30% cut of in-app subscriptions for services that exist outside of the iOS platform is definitely absurd—especially when they get so picky as to preclude even showing links on sign-in pages that appear in Safari—it’s not at all a new thing, and I’d be surprised if Microsoft is being specifically singled out here.

Posted by Jesse Hollington in Toronto on December 11, 2012 at 10:41 AM (PST)

Report: Apple rejects Microsoft SkyDrive updates over 30% cut

What’s even more blatant is when you consider that apps like Dropbox and SugarSync have always provided you a portal to your non-Apple cloud storage, with no ability to sign up for or increase your storage ... exactly like the Microsoft “compromise” that has since been rejected.  The bully in the sandbox is about to get dragged into yet another lawsuit ...

Posted by rockmyplimsoul on December 11, 2012 at 9:55 AM (PST)

Apple's 'Steve Jobs patent' tentatively ruled invalid

/slow golf clap over here

Anyone who watched Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1988 could have filed this same patent, they just needed to know how to obfuscate the obviousness with the sort of language rife through that patent so that the approval officers had no idea what they were reading.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 11, 2012 at 9:31 AM (PST)

Report: Apple rejects Microsoft SkyDrive updates over 30% cut

Every month Apple lets slip numerous apps that are, literally, 100% stolen, just a repost of another developer’s code, and leaves them up for days or even weeks after such incredibly blatant theft is brought to their attention. Every month they let slip even more apps that are outright 100% fraudulent, i.e. screen shots are lifted from another app, often on another platform, description has nothing to do with the app, and the app itself is basically a small hypercard presentation, and these, again, are often up for weeks, sometimes reaching the tops of the earning charts if they’re faking a particularly desired property.

Yet, have a link to a web page you own within your app that has a link to a way to sign up for a service that Apple provides not one iota of infrastructure, advertising, support costs, operating costs, etc. for and Apple is going to catch it…

Nice to see their approval auditors have their priorities straight.

——-

In this particular example, how is MS removing ALL abilities to sign up for the service from the App not an acceptable “compromise” (reminds me of a certain political party’s definition)? Apple’s legal team must have informed whoever made this decision that they are inviting yet another DOJ sniffing party with such an action.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 11, 2012 at 9:25 AM (PST)

Apple releases iOS 6.1 beta 3 to developers

Hope all iOS developers are eagerly awaiting the third beta version or update of iOS 6.1. However, the update of the same is available only for registered iOS developers. How come it’s not available on the main developer’s site? The version is available with some improved functionality of Siri; in addition it will also have superior iCloud security. Every iOS developer is eager to know about its release.

Posted by SPINX INC. on December 11, 2012 at 6:22 AM (PST)

FCC urges FAA to allow more in-flight device use

Sorry, have to post another comment in order to subscribe.

Posted by sallenmd on December 9, 2012 at 8:17 PM (PST)

FCC urges FAA to allow more in-flight device use

I don’t care about cell phones one way or the other. I listen to music with headphones from the instant they let me until the instant they make me stop. I just want to be able to read on my Kindle the whole flight. I’ve taken a few business charters in the past few years. You get to use your electronics (other than cellphone) from the moment you sit board to the moment you get off.

Posted by sallenmd on December 9, 2012 at 8:16 PM (PST)

FCC urges FAA to allow more in-flight device use

One of the few remaining places on this planet where you can expect a little respite from the loudmouth blabbing on his mobile phone - I really look forward to the long haul flight sat near to Mr Motormouth….

Posted by Bob Levens in UK on December 8, 2012 at 11:16 AM (PST)

Bloomberg interviews Cook on being CEO, products, more

“Eighty percent of our revenues are from products that didn’t exist 60 days ago. Is there any other company that would do that?”

Um, nearly all of them?

Talk about a cherry picked time to make this statement as well as wildly smudging the definition of “exist”.

From a more macro p.o.v. Apple hasn’t had a new product since the first generation iPad, everything else since then has simply been a new version of a previously existing product line (no, Tim, making a physically smaller screen and changing the type of dock connector does not make the iPod mini a new product).

That nitpicking aside, pretty much all companies outside of those involved in staple products rely on continually refreshing their product line to stimulate sales and income. Methinks he’s been breathing too much of the late Steve’s rarified “air” if he’s seeing an annual product refresh in the tech world as somehow novel and uniquely Apple when it’s actually rather pedestrian.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 6, 2012 at 9:30 AM (PST)

Apple releases new Remote 3.0 iOS app

Had to revert back to Remote 2.3, because a bug (?) causes playlists to display Album Artist Rather than Artist, pretty annoying when the Album Artist is Various Artists.

Posted by Marius on December 6, 2012 at 6:35 AM (PST)

Apple releases new Remote 3.0 iOS app

go to itunes and turn off home sharing then turn it back on it worked for me!!

Posted by hank on December 5, 2012 at 8:09 PM (PST)

iTunes update to fix dupe, TV, art bugs, omit Cover Flow

I agree about the practicality of Cover Flow, though it looked nice and was helpful to show me which albums needed artwork.

What I do miss is full screen “Now Playing” though. That is kind of a bummer, it served as a really nice way to show off the cover art.

I realize I can still see the cover art via the popout window, but it’s not full screen.

Posted by ~ruindpzzle in san diego, CA on December 5, 2012 at 5:03 PM (PST)

iTunes update to fix dupe, TV, art bugs, omit Cover Flow

Please tell me this means it’s going to be removed from our iPhones and touches.

If Coverflow wasn’t useful on the computer, where at least it remained contextual and functional, it’s sure as heck not useful on our devices where it insists on showing us 100% of everything on the device no matter what were looking at before we had the misfortune to turn our device too far to the side.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 5, 2012 at 2:47 PM (PST)

Avid releases Avid Studio for iPad

iPad looks cool.  But I already got my iPhone!  I love my iPhone!  Why would I trade it for an iPad?  Iphone is semllar.  It fits in the palm of my hands!  iPad doesn’t have a USB plug thingy where I can plug in my phone.  iPad still looks cool.

Posted by Serdar on December 4, 2012 at 1:13 PM (PST)

Apple-HTC settlement patent list can't be sealed

@1: You would be incorrect. Court proceedings, with very few exceptions, are public record. Participants can argue that some or all of a particular case should be sealed, and the judge can agree or disagree, but the default is public.

Posted by Code Monkey in Midstate New York on December 4, 2012 at 11:28 AM (PST)

Moscow event could be Russian iTunes launch

Considering how many questionable cheap/free music sites exist in Russia, there is something deeply ironic about iTunes launching in Russia.

Posted by choiceweb on December 4, 2012 at 9:40 AM (PST)

Stem debuts iZon app-controlled Room Monitor

I have 2 ipods, I use both for my account.  I am not sure why you’d no lnegor use the other one unless your selling it, but plugging it in to your computer you will go through steps to enable it to your itunes and naming your ipod (which of course, will have a differant name associated with it). I am not sure of the steps since its been a while since I got my other ipod, but I do believe that itunes asks you during setup if you are replacing or adding an ipod, just select “replace” and do not plug the other ipod into your computer again.References :

Posted by jassu on December 4, 2012 at 8:33 AM (PST)