Apple’s App Store Staff Causes Confusion

All applications in the App Store must go through a review process by Apple staff. Apple has all kinds of requirements for the type of software they allow to pass through the approval gates. The process of approving applications would be a daunting process for any vendor let alone Apple. Any approval process is likely to have idiosyncrasies and Apple has found their fair share. The application approvers are basically the gatekeepers and censors of Apple’s standards. Play by the rules and you are welcome in, but if you break the rules then you are left on the outside. Fair enough if the rules are communicated and interpreted well, but when the rules are not applied consistently the only thing you have left is frustration. Apple has made mistakes on both ends of the spectrum. In April 2009, the App Store staff allowed the infamous Baby Shaker application which was subsequently pulled. Most recently Apple refused to allow a completely legitimate application for reading books from Project Gutenberg to make it into the App Store. The application is called Eucalyptus and the developer provided a well documented history of what he went through to get the application approved. The ongoing reversals give the impression that Apple’s censors are not clear on App Store guidelines. There is a perception they don’t know what they’re doing and their judgment is suspect. Perhaps it’s a matter of a few bad Apples (staff) involved with the process. Maybe the reversals and lack of judgment on approvals are related to undefined and misunderstood procedures. Whatever the reason, the reversals and wrong decisions are frustrating to Apple developers. Apple’s credibility is impacted when they allow applications like Baby Shaker, but deny an application that provides access to one of the greatest free libraries of all time. It is unlikely these situations will be eliminated, but let’s hope they are kept to a minimum for the benefit of all.

There's An App For That

Marketing genius is when an advertisement permeates into the public. The genius is when your idea transcends the original media format and spills into the public nomenclature. That's exactly what is happening with Apple's "There's An App For That" campaign. I've heard a number of people talking about a particular topic when someone follows with a "there's an app for that!". It's funny because it's true and if you're not in the iPhone or Touch circle in probably won't resonate, but for those of us who can appreciate the humor it's a great phrase to use outside of a thirty second ad spot. I thought this was something I would blog about. And by the way...there's an app for that!

Why is the iPhone keyboard so difficult to use?

I adapt quickly to new technologies. I’m just one of those people. Like anyone else I adapt to some technologies faster than others. When I originally started using my iPhone it took a considerable amount of time to figure out the best way to command use of the keyboard. Mistakes will occur with any type of input device, but correcting errors on the iPhone always seems more time consuming. I receive a number of emails from iPhone users with spelling errors and I suspect error correction ability to be the culprit. The issue is that spelling correction on the fly as you type is a bit of a pain. While you’re composing an email you have a thought you want to get out and having that thought pattern disrupted with spelling correction questions and issues is distracting. I prefer the spell check option you would find in Outlook or on a Blackberry where you can spell check after composing and before sending. It’s so not Apple, but it would be a great option to add on.

Microsoft's Ad Campaign Highlights the "Real" Truth

Microsoft’s TV advertising efforts over the past year haven’t exactly been running on all cylinders. For starters, the infamous Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates commercials were uncomfortably creepy. Next, the “I’m a PC” response to Apple’s Mac/PC commercials came across as defensive. The latest ad from Microsoft is much more strategic and direct. It features a young woman named Lauren who is tasked with selecting a new notebook for up to $1,000. Anything under – she keeps. Lauren explores both the Apple store and Best Buy and determines that a $1,000 laptop from Apple doesn’t meet her needs. Lauren has decided she’s “not cool enough to be a Mac person” (sour grapes?) and selects a PC for $700. The story has generated a tremendous amount of discussion and disgust in the diehard Apple camps.

While the commercial does a lot to generate conversation about the value prospect of each platform it doesn’t make a difference in consumer selection of a Mac or PC. To understand the debate we have to strip away the labels of “Mac” and “PC”. This is not about being cool or not being cool. Fortunately for Lauren and other PCers, computers don’t define coolness. Truth be told, as demonstrated by this new ad, is that when all is said and done people select computers based on their needs. Some needs are met by a PC as is the case with Lauren. The $999 MacBook simply doesn’t provide her with the screen size she wants for the price point she’s at. There’s nothing wrong with that. When Lauren decides to buy a PC she makes trade offs and for that matter she seems OK with that. You have to wonder if she understands the tradeoffs she’s making. Was she aware of Apple’s leading customer satisfaction scores, the amazing iLife software, the excellent quality hardware, access to Genius Bars and a stellar Operating System. These were the things that brought me to Apple (see my 2005 blog entry). Is a more educated consumer likely to prefer Apple?

Consumers are very price conscious today and it’s understandable why Microsoft would want to address their value add in this area. Lauren looks very happy with her purchase. Welcome to Vista Lauren! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as much as all of the other Vista users who wish they could be back on Windows XP. I couldn’t resist…

3.0 Features: Is the Best Yet To Come?

This Tuesday at Apple's media event we had a sampling of what's to come in the 3.0 software. Let's hit the highlights:

- Cut, Copy and Paste: About time. Apple claims they've been "working really hard" on this one. From the looks of the double clicking, grab points and choice bubbles it looks like Apple got it right. We'll have to see. Apple was very clever in their approach towards capturing blocks of text from sources like Safari although I can see formatting issues when pasting HTML in to a mail mixed with regular text. I like the shake to undo and redo.

- Landscape: Again, about time. It was available in Safari all this time can't see why Apple held this back.

- MMS: Yet another feature that should have been out since day 1. Interesting use for sending location and audio. Sorry pre 3G folks - not available for you...

- Voice memo: Great looking interface. A nice to have, but no biggie.

- Calendar: Ability to integrate with CalDAV and calendar subscriptions. OK I suppose for some, but I can think of more important features like a "week view".

- Stocks: Great upgrade, but would rather see Apple's time spent on other items and apps like this left to third parties.

- Search: Long overdue and Apple must feel relieved they finally have this out. This was one of the major reasons why I didn't like the iPhone. It's not that I search that much, but when I need to, I really want the ability. I like the ability to search across all core applications. Wonder if Apple will allow 3rd party applications to tie into Spotlight. I also took note of the server based search possible with Exchange 2007. That's significant because it signals Apple is possibly looking to make changes to its ActiveSync performance and capabilities.

- Notes sync: Another on the list of "what took so long". It's still inexcusable that a To Do program isn't available from Apple. Rise up people, come on....

- Wifi auto login: This is actually a big deal for those of us who like to connect in wifi hotspots. It's a real pain having to authenticate through Safari each time. If this can help ease the process that will be a big plus.

- A2DP: If you're one of the few who's looking to have wireless headphones you're finally in luck.

- Parental controls, youtube, etc: All nice add ons.

Apparently there are about 100 new features with 3.0 yet we've only seen and heard a very few dozen. What else is out there that we don't know about yet. There's chatter about tethering, encrypted iPhone backups, new Podcast controls, and more. We'll hear about more features over the next week as developers get a chance to go through the 3.0 software and report back.

The iPhone is far from perfect even with 3.0. Is still lacks an organized home screen, lack of ring and vibrate profiles (like a Blackberry), lack of offline mail for Exchange users, lack of customized shortcuts and the list goes on (my original issue list). No device on the market is perfect.

Next Generation iPhone Likely to Have Video Capture

All signs are pointing to new iPhone hardware in the next few months. The updates will likely include a new processor and video recording capability along with the long list of announced and unannounced 3.0 features. Ars Technica discovered references to the new devices within a system file included with the 3.0 beta released to developers on Tuesday. A "publish video" screen was also discovered by Engadget to further push the notion of a next generation phone.

It's never made sense that the iPhone has lacked video capture capability. It's completely counter to Apple's overall personal multimedia strategy. If a free phone from any cellular carrier can capture video then why not a state of the art device like the iPhone. The first and second generation iPhone's clearly have limitations that Apple hasn't been completely straight forward about.

New Breed of Applications On The Way

At the iPhone 3.0 Media Event today, Apple announced a new SDK. Not everyone is technical here so let’s get on the same page. SDK stands for Software Development Kit. It’s a set of development tools utilized by software developers to develop applications for a particular platform (i.e. the iPhone). During today’s media event, Apple announced a new SDK with over 1,000 APIs. What’s an API you ask? The Application Programming Interface exposes the nuts and bolts of application development to developers. OK, I am simplifying this a little bit. What matters here is that Apple is extending the capabilities of what iPhone developers can bring to the market.

Here’s a glimpse of some of the new features available to the development community:

Push Notification: Apple has long been criticized for not allowing applications to run in the background. When you hit the Home key to access another application you’ve essentially closed the application you were working in. This was all done in the spirit of addressing performance issues caused by applications running on Smartphones in the “background” (lingo for not the application you’re currently using). According to Apple, based on their test of a 3rd party IM client tested on multiple non Apple devices, stand by time for those devices dropped by 80%. Apple’s battery life with 3G is already bad enough. The last thing Apple wants is for you to have 20 applications running in the background as your phone battery quickly fades away. The downside to having these applications not running in the background is that you’re unable to receive alerts or messages from the application. If you use a chat application and someone IMs you, you wouldn’t know it until you used the application. Apple’s solution is to provide a notification service so application vendors could notify Apple of application alerts. Apple in return would notify your device. Apple acknowledged today they “were late on this one”. They expected to have this available by the end of 2008, but it didn’t happen. Based on developer feedback they had to “completely rearchitect the server infrastructure to make it really scalable”. The jury is out on if Apple is doing the right thing here. I believe Apple is genuinely interested in providing the best experience possible and restricting background applications is, arguably, a wise choice. There are applications that are not alert or message based that still won’t be able to run in the background. There should be an option for users to allow this.

Peer to peer device connectivity: Developers can write iPhone and Touch applications that can interact with other devices over Bluetooth using built in auto discovery features. Developers can focus on writing their application while Apple handles the discovery, connectivity and state management of other devices. Ideal for games, document sharing, etc…

Accessories: The iPhone and Touch will be able to communicate with devices external to itself. At the media event today, there were examples of how this might be used. In one case, an iPhones could control an external speaker via a phone based equalizer and a blood pressure device provided info to the iPhone via an application, Who knows…heart monitors could be next. Very cool.

Maps: Two areas of interest here. Applications can finally embed maps in to their applications. In the past, Maps had to load up separately. There was a real disconnect between the mapping and the application. Apple is also opening up the “core location” ability for turn by turn direction applications. This explains why we’ve not seen these applications to date through the App Store. Turn by turn vendors will use their own maps due to license restrictions with Google maps.

App Store Enhancements: While of little interest to most users, Apple will provide applications with more flexibility for intra application revenue streams. For example, you could have a game you purchase with five levels. If you want to purchase more you can buy them within the application instead of an additional application. Another example, perhaps you wanted an Ebook. Today, you would need to download a new application for each book. With the new App Purchase APIs, a single application would allow purchases from within the application. Everything would connect to the App Store to leverage Apple’s infrastructure for downloading, credit card processing, etc. Not sexy to the end user, but will improve certain experiences with applications.

The SDK will bring a next generation of applications that will impress. We’re on the verge of a new breed of applications we’ve yet to see.

Behind the Latest iPhone Statistics

During the iPhone 3.0 media event today, Apple offered its usual buffet of statistics for the public, media and financial analyst. Let’s analyze the significance or items of interest with some of those numbers.

Worldwide Availability: The iPhone is now available in 80 countries. Pretty impressive numbers considering the phone has been out for less than two years. Blackberry, in contrast of another “smartphone”, is available in 90 countries. The iPhone has great global exposure. A large global audience opens up opportunities for developers to bring their applications to all parts of the globe.

25,000 Applications in iTunes Store: At the time I wrote my iPhone 3G review there were only 500 applications in the App Store. The new number is jaw dropping for a less than a two year old platform. And the reason…

800,000 SDK Downloads: The iPhone SDK continues to fuel the environment for iPhone developers. Of course not all of these downloads represent developers releasing products, but the interest in the platform is amazing. Apple has done such a great putting the SDK together for developers it has created ideal conditions for developers to translate their great (and not so great) ideas to the iPhone.

96% of Apps Submitted are Approved: What are we to make of the 1000 applications not approved. Is Apple restricting creativity? Is Apple playing too much of a role in what’s “decent” and “appropriate”? Apple’s desire to create the “right experience” often limits choices.

62% of iPhone Developers Are New to Apple: Any Mac enthusiast has to love this. The iPhone SDK provides exposure to the Apple environment. If Windows developers, for example, take their Apple interest to the OS X space, just think about the application market that could lie ahead.

17 Million Total iPhones Sold: Gartner released their Worldwide Smartphone Sales statistics. At the end of 08 Gartner estimates that Apple owns 8% of the market share. Apple’s year over year market share increased 245%. Lots of upside with the iPhone.

Live Updates from the iPhone 3.0 Press Conference

If you're interested in keeping a live eye on today's Apple iPhone 3.0 announcements you can tune in to these sites starting at 1 PM E.S.T.

MacWorld

Cnet

Engadget

Ars Technica

Check back later this evening for my thoughts and analysis.

On the Copy and Paste Bandwagon?

The ability to copy and paste has become one of the most desired features of the phone. It's easy to see, after using the device, how implementing copy and past could be a challenge, but other touch screen phones have had copy and paste. No pass for Apple here. In the past, Apple has basically said there's no reason they haven't done it and would consider it. That's Apple talk for "we're working on it, but we're not admitting it". The rumor mills, on sites like MacRumors, are reporting copy and paste is finally destined for the iPhone and will be announced this Tuesday at Apple's iPhone 3.0 event. I often here from others how they wish the iPhone had copy and paste. I was one of those when I had the device myself. However, there are phone features that are sorely needed and surpass the copy and paste feature. Copy and paste is a convenience feature and who doesn't like those, but there are other things about the iPhone or its integration with the desktop that I would much rather see fixed first. There's no way to sync iCal or Outlook To Dos with the iPhone. That's an issue. The positive about Apple's attention on copy and paste is that Apple is listening to users. As much as I don't see copy and paste as important relative to other features - I know others do. The 3.0 release is bound to offer an abundance of features above copy and paste. 3.0 will hopefully bring the type of dramatic change the phone needs to build upon its strengths yet offer the feature set that's appropriate for a modern day/next generation phone. More of my thoughts tomorrow.

Sirius XM iPhone Player (Almost) Ready

Yesterday, Sirius XM Radio announced a player for the iPhone was in the works. Let's take a look at why this is important. Interest in streaming content continues to grow. After a while people tend to get tired of their music libraries. There's just something about live content that's streaming. It feels "fresh". Applications like Slacker, AOL Radio and Pandora have occupied the streaming space on the iPhone over the past year. These are all worthy options, however, the content is sometimes limited, generic and often rich with boring commercials (disagree?). Sirius XM, for those that don't know, offers a subscription service with dozens of commercial free music channels mixed in with premium content with limited commercials (CNBC, CNN, etc...). Most consumers are exposed to satellite radio through their cars. Many new cars come with the radio included. One of Sirius' challenges was getting the device in the hands or cars of the consumer. While more devices are available in new cards than ever before, and Sirius expects overall growth to continue on that fact alone, conversion rates from the free trial subscription to the paid subscription run in the range of 50%. Using the iPhone as a radio device reduces the barrier to access for Sirius. The iPhone offers a device that isn't stationary and locked in your car and limited my satellite line of sight connectivity. Have a 3G connection and you're ready to go with a iPhone player. XM offered a Blackberry player, but it offered limited channels, a terrible interface and was not priced correctly. For the Sirius iPhone application to be a success it must have a great interface and the price model must be appropriate. How many iPhone users want to pay another $10 on top of their existing phone and data plan? There's a market there, but limited. I've been surprised we've not seen a player for the iPhone to date, but the announcement from yesterday along with the timing of Apple's 3.0 roadmap has me thinking there's a connection. Either that or Sirius is so cash strapped in R&D they are sitting back as long as possible to figure out the right approach to take with future mobile devices. Regardless, this is an important application for the iPhone regardless if people subscribe to Sirius or not.

A Shuffle Forward and Back

This morning, Apple released the new, 3rd generation, iPod Shuffle. The new Shuffle is even smaller than before. Half the size of the previous generation - if you can believe that. I always like the concept of smaller and more compact, but there are often tradeoffs. The tradeoff with the first two generations of Shuffles was the lack of display screen. With past Shuffles, if you like a song you're listening to and want to know what its name, you were out of luck. For many like myself the display didn't really matter. The Shuffle has always been easy to carry around and when it drops it rarely is damaged. With the new Shuffle, Apple ushers in the era of micro players. For Apple to pull of this new form factor they removed the controls from the device and moved them to a Apple specific headphone. What I liked about the first two Shuffles was that I could walk down the street, sit on a bus, whatever, with my Shuffle in hand. When I wanted to change a song or adjust volume I could easily and discretely move my fingers while holding the device. With the new Shuffle I have to make a conspicuous and non natural gesture of moving my hand to the top of the headphone to adjust track and volume. Not a fan of this new method. The new Shuffle continues to lack any type of display. There is a large segment of those who like players small, but don't want to lose the ability to know what song they're listening to. And for those, the new Shuffle offers VoiceOver (space not included). The new robotic voice will announce the song or playlist you're listening to. Nothing sexy, but I suppose nice to have if you want to know the song. The device has 4GB of memory to hold 1000 songs for $79. The 2nd generation devices are still available while they last.

Product Announcements from Behind the Curtain

Apple announced a number of changes today to the Mac Mini, iMac, Power Mac, AirPort Extreme Base Station and Time Capsule. Numerous updates to hardware specs and price points relative to value to get excited about. Details are available on sites such as MacRumors and Apple Insider so I won't get in to that. This was a large product update without an Apple media event. The Power Mac design changes alone would normally been the focus of, at least, a small media event on Apple's campus. Let's focus on what happened here. Jobs is not well. Many Apple investors are hanging on by a string because they think Jobs is Apple and Apple is Jobs. Holding a media event provides the media with yet another opportunity for the media to ask: Where's Steve? Of course there are other reasons why we experienced web based announcements today. Apple could consider this upgrade as extremely minor relative to other upcoming announcements. Think iPhone, future tablet and netbook (a word my Mac dictionary doesn't even know). Why distract the media during a media event that's pretty hum drum and evolutionary vs revolutionary. Maybe the Apple mantra has become "Cool and sexy = Media event". Today's product announcements were not sexy enough to bring up the curtain on a stage, but they are important steps forward in keeping current.

Ballmer Comes Out In The Open

Microsoft's Steve Ballmer never misses a beat when trying to downplay Apple’s significance in the market place. After being dead wrong about the likely success of the iPhone he recently went into the realm of hypocrisy. His latest attempt to bash Apple took place at this week’s Mobile World Congress 2009 in Barcelona, Spain. He was quoted as saying: "I agree that no single company can create all the hardware and software. Openness is central because it's the foundation of choice." Microsoft as the champion for open standards? Gotta love it...

Steve Jobs Taking Medical Leave

Steve Jobs communicated with Apple employees today he was taking a medical leave of absence until June. He will remain involved in major decisions. This comes a week after Jobs told investors he was being treated for a simple to treat hormone imbalance. This health pattern doesn't sound good. Apple stock is down 6% after hours from the news. As important as Jobs is to Apple I still believe the company has become greater than Jobs himself. "The Street" won't understand or respond that way however. Speedy recovery, Steve!

Download Disaster for Microsoft

While not Apple related...I couldn't help myself from commenting on Microsoft's disastrous release of the Windows 7 Beta today.  This past Wednesday night, Microsoft's CEO, Steve Ballmer announced the Windows 7 Beta would be open to the public on a limited basis.  Upon the release of the software on Friday, Microsoft's servers were flooded with traffic.  Downloads started failing, users couldn't obtain software keys and the Microsoft web site reported "server busy".  How does a company like Microsoft allow this to happen?  Either the Microsoft infrastructure is weaker than anyone ever thought or they completely underestimated the level of interest.  At the end of the day, this story is probably only important to Windows power users and Windows evangelist.  It does speak to Microsoft's inability to properly plan and support the single largest marketing effort to date of the next version of Windows. We can't let Apple off the hook either.  They were guilty of poor infrastructure planning from a past iPhone and Touch release.  Windows users anxious to get their hands on Windows 7 can keep an eye on Microsoft's Windows 7 Blog for the latest news.

MacWorld 2009 Thoughts and Observations

Apple product announcements were in ample supply during this year's MacWorld despite an ill Steve Jobs.  A recent public announcement from Jobs clarified that despite his heath he is still control of Apple.  That’s good news after watching Phil Schiller provide the MacWorld keynote.  Phil is Apple's senior Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing and has moved up from Steve's perennial sidekick to take the lead presenter position.  Here are a few of my thoughts related to today’s keynote.

Phil Schiller’s Keynote:  Phil is not ready for the primetime keynote spot.  His performance was rookie like.  He was lucky he could finish sentences with the proper words.  He was awkwardly nervous for a senior executive.  During his hour plus presentation he never really connected with the audience.  His timing was off and his performance was disjointed.  Phil’s excitement level about his own products seemed rehearsed and ingenuous.  In contrast, when Jobs said some technology was “really cool” you believed him.  I don’t know Phil well and he may be a great marketer, but he clearly isn’t in to the products at the same level as Jobs.  Phil should consider himself lucky for making it through the entire presentation without any major missteps. 

Apple Innovation:  Apple’s level of innovation is astounding.  The software and hardware products they develop are second to none.  Can you imagine what types of products sit behind Apple’s Research and Development walls?  It must be a treasure trove. While today’s announcements were not earth shattering they demonstrate Apple’s proficiency in innovation.

iLife 09:  The already excellent iLife product line continues to improve with the newly announced iLife 09.  iPhoto’s new face recognition software will consolidate all pictures of the same person in one collection.  We’ll need to see how effective this is, but it is certainly ground breaking.  Listening carefully to Phil it sounds like Apple purchased the technology.  This isn’t something you hear often from Apple and I wonder if this was a slip.  iMovie looks fantastic and a significant upgrade from previous versions.  Garageband now has innovative music lesson capability allowing the user to learn how to play guitar or piano from onscreen instructors.  Seems like a bit of a novelty.  What became obviously clear during the presentation was that iLife announcements require their own day in the spotlight.  There are too many features and applications to properly squeeze in to a twenty minute time slot.

Randy Ubillos - Chief Architect for Video:  The real stand out from this year’s keynote was the iMovie demo by Randy Ubillos.  He delivered a spot on and passionate demo.  He should have delivered the entire keynote.  He embodies the Jobs spirit.  Get those marketing guys out of the way!

iWork 09:  Who uses this?  I don’t know any Mac user with iWork, but I suspect they’re out there.  iWork continues to mature in all areas.  The future of Microsoft’s Office on Mac is limited and it’s important iWork is available to take its place.  These enhancements are welcomed and necessary  Highlights of new features include Keynote’s iPhone remote feature and Number’s table categories and the ability to take complex Excel features such as functions and simply them.

Iwork.com Beta:  iWork 09 has a document sharing feature that allows documents to be published to Apple’s web site.  Those allowed to view the document have access to content reviewer features and download capabilities.  It’s interesting to see Apple move in this direction, but even more interesting to see it done in the form of a public beta.  It would be nice to have version history.  The service will eventually be fee based, but is free during the beta.  Another thing I thought was interesting was Phil’s direct request to Apple users for their feedback.  I’ve never heard Microsoft ask users for their feedback from a “world stage”.

Mac Book Pro 17”:  Eight hour battery life.  Enough said!

No news on upgraded Mac Minis.  

iPhone 2.1 Thoughts

There have been many days I wanted to trade in my iPhone. Missing features from the phone was not the primary reason. The phone was riddled with bugs from crashing applications all the way to extremely slow keyboard responsiveness. Battery life has also been a real sore spot.
It was with great anticipation that I awaited the 2.1 release of the iPhone operating system. After running the new OS for a week I feel that many of my most frustrating issues have been resolved. Battery life - improved. Keyboard - more responsive at time of unlock and within applications. Application crashes - dramatically down. When Steve Jobs met with CNBC for a short interview after his recent keynote he smiled about the dramatic number of fixed in 2.1. That canny way of expressing the extent of bugs highlights how deep the bug list really was. The release offered very few enhancements. Those provided were very minor. This release was about bugs. Jobs and his team had to get those issues under control before the iPhone's image was tarnished. The phone risked becoming a showpiece with no brain. Now on to the enhancements!

iPhone 2.0.2 software does not solve 3G issue

Apple released iPhone 2.0.2 software this week.  The release is a feature free - bug focused release.  While details of the release were sparse on Apple's web site, an Apple spokesperson acknowledged fixes related to 3G reception.  Don't be fooled by any means that this addresses AT&Ts abysmal 3G coverage.  A class action lawsuit was filed in Alabama against Apple claiming Apple misrepresented the phone's ability to delivery enhanced speeds on the 3G network.  This is unlikely to have any legs.  Consider how many wireless customers sign up for service for a "nation wide network" only to find it doesn't mean the entire nation.  It's all in the small print, friends.  Let's hope AT&T is actively building their 3G network not only in new areas, but filling the holes in existing areas.

Best Buy To Sell iPhones

According to sources, Best Buy is expected to announce they will be selling the iPhone.  The Best Buy channel provides Apple with a nationwide retail outlet for iPhone distribution.  Best Buy and Apple have slowly been building their partnership over the past few years.  Many Best Buy stores feature an Apple section with predominantly displayed iMacs and Mac Books.  This is the first time in the U.S. the iPhone will sit along side phones from other vendors.  

Updated:  The news is now official.

iPhone Firmware 2.0.1 Released

My iPhone experience has thus far left me disappointed.  Multiple application crashes, missing features and "black screens of death" have all contributed.  Tonight, Apple released iPhone Firmware 2.0.1.  While we don't exactly what was fixed there are early reports of improvement.  Users at MacRumors and Applesider are already weighing in.  New features will come in 2.1, but for now I'm hoping 2.0.1 will address some short term frustrations.  Check iTunes for the update.

Jobs to Operations - Stat!

The rollout of the iPhone 3G and MobileMe service will be remembered for one of Apple's worst deployments ever.  I'm not speaking of items like phone availability but basic services and functionality.  MobileMe has suffered a horrendous start.  Some users have been down and without their email for days.  There's now word some users might have lost mail.  While Apple continues to work on the issues causing ongoing outages the damage to Apple's typically untarnished reputation is done.  In the iPhone area, the App Store has been a hit for users but is causing developers a real headache.  Apple is failing to provide developers with information on application sales, timely push updates of software and other issues.  In both cases, Apple is late to the game to provide honest and accurate information to not only the public, but their own support staff.  Steve Jobs needs to take a break from product development and marketing and focus on the operational side of the house.  

Tablet Temptations

During this week's Apple news conference, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer tantilized analyst with talk of upcoming "state-of-the-art new products that our competitors just aren't going to be able to match". While this certainly could have been talk to reinvigorate a stock that has come off recent highs it's highly unlikely. ABC and other media outlets have speculated a long time coming of the Apple tablet. The tablet format has hardly been successful, but with Apple's multi touch technologies and innovation they could create something so compelling it will redefine the mobile platform and transcend portability beyond phones and laptops. The timing of such a device could happen as soon as August for back to school sales or closer to October for the holiday buying season. While I'm not sure that a tablet will be released I am convinced a new device from Apple is pending.

Fixation on Fixes

Apple blogs and news sites are actively discussing the news of an upcoming iPhone 2.1 SDK as well as a pending iPhone 2.0.1 release. Both the 0.1 and .1 release are welcome news for device lovers who are frustrated with many elements of the iPhone. Application crashes, sluggish response, poor 3G performance (relative to other 3G devices in the same coverage area) and other issues plague the iPhone. Features still "missing" even with the 2.0 software become more and more apparent as use of the updated software progresses. Hopefully we won't have to wait long for each.

Review: iPhone 3G

I’ve had an opportunity to use the iPhone 3G for about a week. While the device is light years ahead of any other mobile device on the market today it is plagued with issues not typical for an Apple product. Apple’s claims that the iPhone is ready for the enterprise are countered by a vast array of missing enterprise like features. As a ten year plus Blackberry user I found many features I became accustom to completely missing. Here’s a quick overview of my experiences with the iPhone 3G.

Keyboard:
The keyboard takes time to learn, but once acquainted with it, it is usable. Even with my early proficiency my keystrokes per minute will never reach what is capable on a tactile keyboard. The biggest limitation to the keyboard is its inability to enter landscape mode with the Mail application. This is possible in Safari so it’s not clear why, on a phone that is over one year old, this is still an outstanding issue. On some occasions I found the keyboard to be unresponsive or delayed.

Exchange Activesync:
Configuring mail accounts is very easy. Overall Activesync works great with Exchange. I have noticed that the Push technology is a real battery killer. Many have suggested turning off Push to Fetch manually to save battery power (but then losing out on the Push feature). There are issues with using Activesync when you can’t connect to Exchange. There’s no “offline” mode so messages you try to move to a different folder result in an error. For some reason I had intermittent issues with Activesync when using Wifi.

Phone Functionality and Voice Mail:
The phone functionality is very good. The numeric keyboard is easy to use. On screen call options are well designed. Visual Voicemail is great! Switching between speaker phone, handset and Bluetooth is a cinch. Call quality is decent. Max volume on headset still seems low to me. External speakers worked well for calls as well as music.

App Store / 3rd Party Applications
The iPhone SDK will produce a vast array of applications. The 500+ applications currently available through the App Store barely scratch the service on what we will see vendors produce over the next year. There’s a tremendous opportunity for developers to produce rich mobile applications.

Enterprise Readiness
The iPhone is not ready for the Enterprise. The device is missing basics that both Blackberry and Windows Mobile have. Consumers will, for the most part, not care about these. Here are a few examples of features found in other mobile business products, but missing from the iPhone:
• Inability to create meeting request from phone
• Inability to view calendar in week view
• Inability to directly view contact info from meeting invitee
• Inability to customize and “profile” alert notifications for email and phone calls
• Inability to view ToDos and Notes,
• Inability to mark all messages as read
• Inability to perform global search on calendar, contacts and mail
• Inability to copy and paste
• Lack of new message indicator on screen when unlocked
• Lack of new message indicator along status bar
• Lack of external message indicator/light
• Lacks the ability to modify “out of office” from the device
• Exchange lookup via Address Book requires extra steps

Battery Life:
Phone users will need to adjust to the reduced battery life of a 3G type phone. The following settings are a must to mange battery life properly:
• Turn off locator service
• Turn off 3G unless needed
• Reduce screen brightness to 20%
• Consider Fetching mail when needed vs Push
• Turn off wireless when not in use
• Turn off Bluetooth when not in use
• Reduce auto lock time
Ultimately, you will need to figure out what services you can live without to prolong the battery life per charge cycle.

Stability:
Like others who are reporting issues via Apple’s Support forums, I am experiencing a wide arrange of stability issues. Safari has quit on me a number of times while browsing. I’ve also had a number of third party applications quit upon start up. I’ve also experienced the now called “black screen of death” where the device completely freezes and requires a hard reset. Apple needs to address these quickly. Mac news sites have reported a 2.0.1 in testing to hopefully address some of those issues.

3G Performance:
The 3G network in Chicago is spotty. AT&T’s coverage web site reflects 3G strength in binary terms – it’s there or not there. This is misleading due to the patchy 3G coverage areas and is different than how they report EDGE coverage. Browsing on 3G is a great experience and really demonstrates the new phone’s value.

GPS:
I’ve used the GPS feature in various Blackberry’s for about two years now. It has been reliable and accurate. I can’t say the same for the GPS in the iPhone. I’m not sure if the issue is with Google Maps or the GPS chip on the device. Google Maps is extremely slow to update the GPS signal on screen. On some occasions, Google Maps floated my GPS position a ¼ of a mile off from my actual location. A manual reset of my position got it back on track. Use with caution.

Multimedia Functionality:
This is the best iPod anyone could ever have. Video, music and pictures are excellent.

Camera:
With proper lighting, the camera takes great shots. Very easy to sync pictures back to your computer or email to someone else.

Overall experience:
iPhone users will enjoy having so many features packed in to one device. As a business user I’m a bit frustrated with missing features found in Windows Mobile or Blackberry. The overall experience, however, is very satisfying. Apple needs to aggressively address bugs and missing features. As 3rd party application development continues the value of the device will rise even further.