Steve Jobs announced the iPhone development platform at last week’s Worldwide Developer Conference to sighs of disappointments. Mac developers were anxious to develop new applications for the the most anticipated consumer electronics device in years, only to be told they should code fancy websites instead. The 9-minute iPhone development demonstration during the WWDC keynote was a bit confusing for anyone new to Apple widget development. In this post I’ll break down a few Apple widget components, transport you to the iPhone development world, and explain a few restrictions and lock-downs common in the mobile phone industry. Dashboard under the…
Category Archives: Apple
The end of Apple Computer
Today marked the end of Apple Computer after 30 years. The company has come a long way from kit computers assembled in a garage, capitalizing on at least one eureka moment a decade that causes people to rethink the intersection of cutting edge hardware and software. The release of the Mac in 1984 combined the best available hardware with commercial software utilizing the best ideas developed at Apple and research labs such as Xerox PARC. The release of the iMac in 1998 changed consumer views on personal computing, adding a colorful and quiet device to our desktops, placing an…
Eric Schmidt joins Apple’s board
Google CEO Eric Schmidt is now an Apple Computer board member. He joins Fred Anderson of Elevation Partners, Bill Campbell of Intuit, Millard Drexler of J. Crew, Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson, politician Al Gore, and Jerry York of Harwinton Capital. The group was already interconnected outside of the Apple boardroom. Al Gore is a Google advisor and Google invested in Current TV, Gore’s television station. Bill Campbell was an early management advisor to Larry Page and Sergey Brin and helped hire Eric Schmidt. Arthur Levinson is on Google’s Board of Directors. Are closer times ahead for these two powerful brands?…
Apple Store checks out with Windows
Apple is looking for ways to cut down on wait times at its stores’ checkout lines and roaming WiFi-enabled processing stations in the hands of each employee may be the answer. The same employee helping you pick out the right set of headphones for your iPod can scan product barcodes and take payments via credit card right on the spot. Your receipt will sent to you via e-mail just in case you need to make a return or file an expense report. The handheld devices Apple uses in its store are powered by Windows. More information is available in…
Nike+ iPod integration
Nike teamed up with Apple to offer new products and services combined with the iPod nano. The new partnership will include electronics, clothing, and online services for people who like to listen to music while working out. Apple claims 50% of iPod owners use their music players during a workout. The new campaign is called Nike+ and features community and social networking components. The first product is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, a $29 accessory connecting your shoe and your iPod. Runners can place a small sensor under their shoe insole and connect a receiver to their iPod nano to…
iPod, the rejected startup
Tony Fadell helped develop handheld devices for General Magic and Philips. Tony had a vision of a portable MP3 player complemented by an online music store. His startup, Fuse, couldn’t get VC financing to build the product. He shopped the idea around to big companies such as Real Networks and only one company decided to experiment with his idea, hiring Tony as a contractor to build a prototype in two months. The first review on Slashdot in October 2001 called the product “lame” and “not very exciting” for lacking wireless and a bigger hard drive. The product idea became the…
Disney buys Pixar for $7.4 billion
Disney just announced the acquisition of Pixar for about $7.4 billion. 2.3 Disney shares will be exchanged for every Pixar share, including the shares of Pixar’s largest shareholder, Steve Jobs, who owns 50.6% of all outstanding shares. Jobs joins the Disney board of directors as part of the deal which is expected to close this summer. Tags: disneypixarstevejobs…
Photocasts are not valid RSS
I just bought a copy of Apple iLife 06 and created my first photocast of foodporn. The feed invents its own date format and places a guid at the channel level. Apple is also doing some odd user agent restricting access to browsers such as Firefox and tools such as Feed Validator. <pubDate>2006-01-11 18:55:03 -0800</pubDate> Perhaps Apple can publish an update to make all dates RFC 822. Apple also declared a new “wallpaper” DTD that is undefined, just like their podcast DTD. Tags: ilife, photocast, ilife06, puppy…
My new iPod nano
I arrived at the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco today right before the first shipment of iPod nanos arrived via FedEx. I had to wait a little while, but I am now the proud owner of an iPod nano 4 GB in black. I already have a 1GB iPod shuffle but my biggest frustration was not being able to see what I was going. I would often load my iPod shuffle with just a few tracks — podcasts at the beginning followed by music — to avoid not knowing where anything was. My shuffle barely ever contained over…
Reserve a product at your local Apple Store
Would you like to get your hands on the latest Apple product as soon as it hits your local Apple Store? You can go online at the store or from anywhere in the world to reserve a product when it becomes available. I used the system to reserve an iPod shuffle and I received a call today that the San Francisco Apple Store will keep one on hold for me until the end of the day. URL syntax is http://apple.webassociates.com/request/reserve.cfm?sid= + your local Apple Store ID. Visit the Apple Store retail page, select your nearest store, and note the store…