Smalltalk with James Robertson

The 4.0 version of the iPhone OS will finally take us to where we were with Windows 3.0 - task switching:

The technology, detailed by people familiar with Apple's plans for the new firmware, will finally allow users to launch multiple apps in the background and quickly switch between them, as AppleInsider exclusively reported earlier this month. Currently, a running app must be quit when the user returns to the Home screen.

For all the verbiage about how "you don't really need this", chat apps (skype, irc, AIM) are way, way less useful if you have to fully quit and log back in every time you want to check something else.

Technorati Tags: apple, iPhone

So is this CDMA for iPhone story another rumor, or is Apple actually planning on expanding out to Verizon? It makes sense within the North American market (less sense anywhere else). From the WSJ:

The new iPhone would work on a type of wireless network called CDMA, these people said. CDMA is used by Verizon Wireless, AT&T's main competitor, as well as Sprint Nextel Corp. and a handful of cellular operators in countries including South Korea and Japan. The vast majority of carriers world-wide, including AT&T, use another technology called GSM.

Doesn't interest me, though. One thing I really like about my iPhone is that it's not a brick when I travel overseas. Any CDMA phone - iPhone or otherwise - is.

Technorati Tags: apple, cdma, iPhone

Looks like the iPad is going to be a successful device - 9 to 5 Mac has the scoop:

If you haven't already ordered your iPad, you'll now have to wait to April 12th to get your hands on one, according to Apple's Website. The Wifi models have moved from an April 3rd delivery date to April 12th, signaling that Apple has run out of its first week's worth of Wifi iPads. We already knew that demand is pretty strong, and this is another indication that sales will be brisk.

Guess it's a good thing I ordered on early :)

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Spotted in Engadget

We'd heard buzzing for some time now around the internet that Apple planned to sell its iPad in more than just it's own stores, and usually the name Best Buy was mentioned in the same breath... but now we've got some photographic evidence. The above shot comes from what looks to be an internal memo from the big box retailer, not only stating that the stores will be getting the iPad, but that they'll be getting the iPad on launch day.

I'm not surprised - Best Buy has been a retailer for Apple products for awhile, and this makes all kinds of sense - Apple stores aren't everywhere, but Best Buy is - and for a lot of people, Best Buy is the default place to go look for electronics (me, I look to Amazon - but I'm an outlier)

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This is good news, but what I really want to see - for things like downloadable video - is the ability to attach arbitrary sized drives:

Xbox spokesman Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb confirmed earlier today what many have suspected for weeks -- that the Xbox 360 will soon allow USB memory compatibility.

Apple is supposed to be all about the end user experience - if this promo is any indication, they should allow Opera into the app store. It looks way, way better than Safari on the device....

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This isn't a huge surprise; with the kindle app on the iPhone and iPad, how could they not? It would be pretty simple to just use the Amazon store instead of iTunes. Anyway, the scoop comes from AppAdvice:

This deal, despite Steve Jobs clearly stating the opposite, is believed to result with iPad eBooks being more expensive than their Kindle equivalent; well folks, we found out that’s not the case. I had the chance this week to be presented a not-so-NDA-complying preview of it and it looks like Steve is not to be doubted.

Follow the link for a screen shot of the pricing.

Technorati Tags: e-books, iPad, Kindle, amazon, apple

Tim Bray has moved to Google, and has some thoughts on the Android/iPhone competition:

The iPhone vision of the mobile Internet's future omits controversy, sex, and freedom, but includes strict limits on who can know what and who can say what. It's a sterile Disney-fied walled garden surrounded by sharp-toothed lawyers. The people who create the apps serve at the landlord's pleasure and fear his anger.

I hate it.

While I like the idea of wide open competition better than I like the idea of a walled garden, people seem to be choosing walled gardens in droves - Apple products and Facebook being the prime examples. A lot of people think this will be a replay of the rise of Windows, where the open platform (in the sense that anyone can write for it) will win out.

I'm not so sure. In that earlier game, the primary users skewed towards the technical. Now, the user base is broader; it's not just geeks. Apple brings tremendous ease of use and predictability to the party, while Google brings the rough edges and openness. Geeks love the latter; everyone else loves the former.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple's more closed play win, for the simple reason that it's easy, and the mainstream market isn't interested in tinkering or rough edges. We'll see how that plays out.

Technorati Tags: apple, google, android, iPhone

Looks like the iPad is off to a roaring start:

"Apple has been able to generate over $75 million in revenue in one day on a product that 99.9% of purchasers haven't touched or for that matter, even seen in person," said Victor Castroll, an analyst with Valcent Financial Group. "And, we're still three weeks away. That is amazing."

Interestingly enough, they've sold about equal numbers of the 16, 32, and 64 GB models. I put in an order this morning - my wife has been interested in the device as an e-reader. We'll see how well that works in 3 weeks, I guess :)

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Does this mean that the Apple store is prepping for iPad pre-orders?

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