June 4, 2009
I don’t think anyone really expected iLife updates to be a part of next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), but just to put any hopes to rest, Apple on Thursday released a slew of new updates.
Apple updated iDVD, iMovie, iPhoto, a general iLife Support update and a Digital Camera Raw Compatibility update.
iLife Support 9.0.3 provides system-level support for all applications in the iLife suite. The update resolves memory leaks for improved performance of the Media Browser. The new version also corrects issues to display custom folders when added to the Media Browser and it now maintains correct image dates when importing from iPhoto to Aperture.
iDVD 7.0.4 contains general compatibility issues and fixes an issue where iDVD is unable to add title/comment to an image in the image details list. In addition to improved stability, iMovie 8.0.3 also adds support for 720p AVCHD Lite cameras and camcorders. Deleting a beat marker no longer modifies the project duration after installing the update and the Video Effects palette now uses the correct thumbnail for still images.
iPhoto 8.0.3 fixes several issues with publishing to MobileMe, Facebook, and Flickr. The update also fixes Slideshow playback and issues with Location (GPS) info embedded in emailed photos and exported JPEGs.
The Digital Camera Raw Update 2.6 adds support to iPhoto ’08, iPhoto ’09 and Aperture 2 for the Canon EOS 500D, Canon Rebel T1i, Canon EOS Kiss Digital X3, Nikon D5000 and the Olympus E-30.
All f the updates can be downloaded from the software update mechanism in Mac OS X or from the company’s Web site.
The eyes of the mobile industry are squarely focused on Cupertino, Calif. as Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is set to kick off on Monday. First unveiled at a special event at the company’s campus, the highlight of the conference will be an updated version of iPhone OS 3.0.
iPhone OS 3.0 promises to be the most full-featured operating system to date. Based on the preview shown in March, the new operating system will add almost every feature requested by users including copy and paste, in-app purchases, MMS (multimedia messaging system) support, and push notifications, among others.
“All eyes are on WWDC right now,” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of strategy and analysis for media and technology research firm Interpret. “It’s about momentum, another sell out crowd and so much reaction in the market. A good deal of the market is involved in chasing Apple.”
It makes sense that the rest of the industry should be focused on Apple. In addition to having an advanced operating system, it has one of the most successful smart phones on the market, supported by what has become the sleeping giant of the mobile world, the App Store.
The success of the App Store has led two industry leaders, Nokia and RIM, to launch their own application stores. RIM used CTIA to unveil BlackBerry App World in late March, while Nokia, the world’s largest cell phone maker, announced the Ovi Application Store in February.
It’s not just the App Store that has competitors rallying. In the past year the industry has seen a flurry of touch-screen phone releases. As you would expect, most mimic the functionality of the iPhone.
Even with those release and announcements of application stores, the competition is going to where Apple is today, not where they are going. That is why the industry is focused on the company, to try to figure out where they are going.
Apple has a history of mapping the future of a market. The iPod is a perfect example of how it entered an existing market, completely turned it on its ear and then took over. It’s this market strength that Apple is beginning to impose on the mobile industry.
“Certainly Apple’s competitors are watching very closely,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group. However, Rubin points out that some competitors are trying to differentiate themselves from Apple by offering a variety of features not found on the iPhone like a physical keyboard.
WWDC has sold out for the second year in a row, showing the amount of interest developers have in developing for the iPhone. If recent history is an indication, Apple will once again set the pace for the industry at the conference.
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference runs from June 8-12 in San Francisco, Calif.
Less than a week after filing for bankruptcy, Mac clone-maker Psystar got a reprieve in the lawsuit brought against it by Apple.
Judge William Alsup order a stay in proceedings on Monday, citing Psystar’s bankruptcy filing on May 26. The judge ordered a case management conference for December 10, to survey the status of the bankruptcy and the lawsuit.
In court documents accompanying its bankruptcy filing last week, Psystar revealed that its second largest creditor was law firm Carr & Farrell, the company representing them in the Apple case.
A stay does not mean that Apple’s lawsuit is finished. It is a court imposed delay to let one court filing–in this case bankruptcy–run its course before continuing on with the original case.
Judge Alsup could very well order the Apple lawsuit to resume after meeting in December.
June 3, 2009
If the hush coming out of Cupertino isn’t enough of a signal that Apple is about to dazzle us with something at next week’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), perhaps the banners at Moscone are.
As AppleInsider reports, Adam Jackson took some nice pictures of Moscone West, the venue for WWDC. One of the banners in the hall shows the giant WWDC letters surrounded by flying iPhone apps and says “One year later. Light-years ahead.”
It’s no wonder Apple is highlighting the App Store. The company just celebrated its one billionth download in April in just nine months of being open for business.
Competition is heating up in the mobile space. Nokia just launched its Ovi app store to mixed reviews and RIM recently opened App World for BlackBerry users.
The United States Justice Department is launching an investigation that targets some of the world’s top technology companies.
At issue for the Justice Department is whether or not the companies violated antitrust laws by agreeing not to target each other’s top talent, according to a Washington Post report. The Federal probe is determining whether or not that stifles competition and allows companies to maintain their market dominance.
Citing an anonymous source, The Post said the review is industry wide, but it is looking at Google, Yahoo, Apple and Genetech.
The probe is said to be in its preliminary stages.
June 2, 2009
Apple usually doesn’t have many problems when it launches new products. Clearly, the iPhone App Store approval process is an exception in its long history of releasing products.
That’s not to say the App Store isn’t successful. In fact, it is very successful. The Store recently celebrated it’s one billionth app being downloaded. What’s even more amazing than that is the store has been open for less than a year.
According to iPhone enthusiast site 148Apps, Apple currently has over 47,000 applications available for people to download. That’s a lot of apps.
Sadly, all of the good that Apple has with the App Store is overshadowed by some silly decisions that keep a few perfectly reasonable apps out. It seems the Web is hit with stores every week about yet another app that was refused entry for one reason or another.
Instead of going through the long list of apps affected, let’s take the most recent case involving the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation). Here is an organization that defends consumer rights and there app is rejected because Apple finds the content objectionable.
The app in question is just an RSS reader built by a third-party developer. Unfortunately, one of the parody videos includes an f-bomb in the subtitle. It’s Apple’s choice to not let apps in the store, but it also has to be a level playing field. Currently, it’s not.
The same video that Apple rejected the EFF app for is available through the built-in YouTube app and the Safari Web browser. How can they reasonably reject one app that accesses the same content that their own apps do? They can’t, reasonably.
Another example recently is Eucalyptus, an e-book reader that was rejected because it could access the Kama Sutra. Yet, Safari, Google and other e-book readers on the App Store could access the same thing.
I understand what Apple’s trying to do and it makes sense. Clearly someone has setup a set of guidelines that every app is weighed against when it is submitted. If it’s clean, it goes through, if it’s not, it gets rejected.
However, common sense must rule the day. Someone at Apple has to take the role of being the uber-rejecter. They have to be the one to sit back and say, “okay it can access this content, but so can a lot of the other things we have available.”
Perhaps they already have someone overseeing all of the rejections. Maybe the execs just need to loosen the strings a little bit and give them the leeway they need to do the job.
iPhone OS 3.0 should help in Apple’s pursuit to have non-objectionable apps in the store. Well, sort of–it may make the approval process less cumbersome for Apple. The new operating system will include parental controls for apps that will give users the ability to set limits on what types of apps can be downloaded.
Of course, there are limits to how far you take this too–I assume this is what Apple is struggling with right now.
For instance, Google and Safari can access some pretty horrific content if you search for it. Do I want Apple to open the floodgates and allow porn apps or hate content in the store? Absolutely not. I appreciate the fact my two kids can go on the App Store and shop for apps without worrying about what they download.
That’s where the common sense aspect of App Store approval process has to come into play. I don’t envy Apple the task, but they made themselves the gatekeeper of the App Store, now they have to be fair in carrying out that responsibility.
In addition to updating iTunes, Apple on Monday also released updates for its QuickTime media software and GarageBand, the company’s consumer music creation application.
According to Apple, QuickTime 7.6.2 “includes changes that increase reliability, improve compatibility and enhance security.” In fact, the QuickTime update fixes 10 security flaws in the application.
Among the changes are fixes for a memory corruption issue in QuickTime’s handling of Sorenson 3 video files; A heap buffer overflow in the handling of FLC compression files; A buffer overflow while processing a compressed PSD image; and An integer underflow in QuickTime’s handling of PICT images, among others.
GarageBand 5.0.2 improved the purchasing experience for Artist Lessons in the GarageBand Lesson Store and improved accessing installed Jam Packs in the loop browser. Apple said the update also addresses general compatibility issues and improves overall stability as well.
The QuickTime and GarageBand updates are available from the company’s Web site.
Apple released updates for iTunes on Monday, preparing the software for the upcoming release of iPhone OS 3.0.
According to notes provided with iTunes 8.2, the software “now supports iPhone or iPod touch with the iPhone 3.0.” That means that when you plug in your iPhone to the computer, iTunes will recognize any additional features present in the iPhone OS.
The update also provides an important security patch for the application. According to Apple, stack buffer overflow exists in iTunes when parsing “itms:” links. This could lead to arbitrary code execution.
iTunes 8.2 is available for download from the company’s Web site or via the software update preference in Mac OS X.
There was little doubt that it would pass after last week’s House vote, but it’s now official–North Carolina will change the tax laws to lure Apple to the state.
According to a report in the Associated Press, the Senate voted 40-8 to approve the change. That should clear the way for Apple to open its server farm in the state, as long as it abides by the rules.
For instance, Apple would need to spend $1 billion over a ten year period and locate the server farm in one of the poorest counties in the state. Currently Catawba and Cleveland counties are possible contenders.
In exchange for its investment, North Carolina will offer Apple $46 million in tax breaks over the life of the deal. Apple has not commented on whether or not they will build a server farm in the state.
Google is among the other companies that have been offered lucrative tax breaks by the state to attract business in the past.
