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Filed under: iPhone

Silicon Alley Insider has posted an interesting chart that shows the total number of apps available across various mobile platforms. As you can see from the chart, Apple's iPhone leads the pack by a longshot with 170,000 apps according to AppShopper.com. AppShopper typically lists more apps than Apple publicly states it has because AppShopper updates its numbers on a daily basis. As of today's count, AppShopper says Apple has approved 198,924 apps with 171,722 available to download. The discrepancy between the numbers accounts for apps that either the developers or Apple have removed from the App Store. Apple officially states that it currently has 150,000 apps. A distant second after Apple's App Store is Google's Android Marketplace with 30,000 apps. RIM's Blackberry trails with only 5,000 apps, while Palm has a paltry 2,000. Windows Phone 7 Series Applications were announce a few days ago with a limited number of developers signed on. Of course, these numbers don't take app quality into account at all (100,000 fart apps is still just a bunch of junk), but clearly in terms of available downloads, Apple has a huge lead.

TUAWApple leads the App Store race with 170,000 apps originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPhone

Sprint has released an ad that features the iPhone with its Overdrive 3G/4G Hotspot mobile router. The Overdrive allows you to use Sprint's 4G network with any WiFi capable device. The ad features "Matt" and the appropriately-named "Steve" (who is the one with the iPhone). "My friend Steve's iPhone is cool, but it's limited to AT&T's 3G speeds," Matt says. "So I'm going to use the Overdrive 4G mobile hotspot to make it up to ten times faster. And while that's happening, I'm going to enjoy this tasty snack." At this point Matt pulls out an apple while Steve connects to the Sprint 4G WiFi network on his iPhone and exclaims, "Whoa. Done," after streaming a music video. The ad ends with Matt asking, "What can you do with 4G?" before the narrator chimes in, "Whatever you do, do it up to ten times faster than 3G with 4G from Sprint." Sprint was one of the first to attack the iPhone but now, like most wireless providers, wants to be an official iPhone carrier. Last September Charlie Rose asked Sprint CEO Dan Hesse how the Pre was stacking up against the iPhone, to which he replied, "It's... it's doing well, but you can almost put the iPhone, to be fair, in a separate category. The Apple brand and that device have done so well, it's almost not... it's like comparing someone to Michael Jordan." Well, if you can't beat the star, why not make some sweet accessories to go along with those Air Jordans?

TUAWSprint features iPhone in 4G ad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPad

MacRumors reports that Apple has begun offering iPad 10-packs to educational institutions at discounted rates. The discounts are relatively minor: $20 off of each iPad in a set of 10, or $40 off per iPad if they are ordered with AppleCare. The iPad 10-packs are shipped in a single box, which eliminates individual packaging. In addition to the ten iPads, the packs contain ten power adapters, ten USB-to-Dock cables, and one set of documentation. Currently, only the WiFi models are available in the educational 10-packs. Like the iPhone, there are no iPad educational discounts currently available to students or teachers. Many believe that the iPad can revolutionize the tools for education. This educational 10-pack could be an early sign that Apple will aggressively pursue the iPad as an educational tool. The iPad 10-packs begin shipping in April.

TUAWEducational institutions: Get your discounted iPad 10-pack originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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U.S. wireless carrier Sprint has featured the iPhone and criticized the exclusive wireless provider of Apple's handset, AT&T, in a new advertisement touting the ability to share its 4G network with a Wi-Fi hotspot.

Filed under: OS

Charles Miller, a computer security researcher who's worked with the NSA, is planning to reveal 20 zero-day security holes in Mac OS X at CanSecWest, a digital security conference, in Vancouver BC next week. A zero-day security hole is a weakness in software that the makers of the software have no knowledge of. So Miller revealing that Mac OS X has twenty of them makes Apple look like they didn't do the job right the first time and also suggests Apple needs glasses to see what they've missed. "Mac OS X is like living in a farmhouse in the country with no locks, and Windows is living in a house with bars on the windows in the bad part of town," Miller said, suggesting that while both OSes have their security flaws, the Mac OS is safer because of the lack of people threatening to exploit it. Software is software, and no matter how much more secure Mac OS X is than Windows, it's still bound to have some security issues. I'm all for Charles Miller digging around the OS to find flaws, but come on, if you find them, why announce them to the world and open up a potential new round of attacks? Wouldn't it be better to report them to Apple instead of to the host of hackers that pay attention to CanSecWest? There's no question about it, Apple should have caught these holes in the first place and Miller is right in calling them out on it. But while I understand that public outings go a long way to ensuring that people or companies don't make the same mistakes again, you can call Apple out without showing people - especially the wrong people - the specific cracks in the system.

TUAW20 zero-day security holes in Mac OS X to be revealed originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Verizon isn't the only one seeing Apple's products as an opportunity. Sprint is advertising their 4G hotspot as a way to make your iPhone faster. How about get close to AT&T's iPad plan prices and you've got yourself a deal?

If you use the Pandora music-streaming service, you're probably aware that the company had long teetered on the edge of survival. So how did it manage to turn the corner and post its first profitable quarter at the end of 2009? The New York Times runs through Pandora's roller-coaster history, giving much of the credit to the Pandora iPhone app, which brought 35,000 new users per day to the service.

 

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Filed under: Gaming

Do you need a weapon that's not as clumsy or random as a blaster, or perhaps, an elegant weapon from a more civilized age? Soon, there will be an app for that. THQ Wireless, the maker of several Star Wars-themed iPhone apps including The Force Unleashed and Star Wars: Trench Run, will release a new app called Lightsaber Duel early in April. Overall, the app sounds similar to another app called Lightsaber Unleashed, which allows you to swing your iPhone around and make "vvvmmm, vvvmmm, tssshh!" noises come out of the speaker. Lightsaber Duel will expand on that idea. Rather than merely going all Star Wars Kid with your iPhone, you'll actually be able to engage in duels with your fellow wannabe Jedi or Sith via a Bluetooth connection with their iPhone. You'll also be able to play music during the duel. However, we're not yet sure if that means only music bundled with the app, or if you'll be able to play your iTunes music. "Duel of the Fates" and "Battle of the Heroes" are fine lightsaber battle tunes, but the übernerd in me wants to be able to mix it up and throw in a little "One-Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII or "Burly Brawl" from Matrix: Reloaded. THQ hasn't released pricing info yet, but assuming it isn't heinously expensive, this is an app that's likely to hit the top of the App Store charts within hours of its release. [Via Mashable]

TUAWComing soon: Lightsaber duels on the iPhone originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: iPad

Thursday's Macworld article from Jason Snell on the relative merits of waiting for the 3G iPad sets out a good case for the superiority of the more flexible -- and expensive -- AT&T-enabled units. If you can keep your powder dry during the interminable wait through most of April, while your friends are flaunting their WiFi-only units, you might be better off. For the investment of $130 up front, mobile users get GPS capability plus the wireless broadband equivalent of a reserve chute; whenever you find yourself without solid WiFi access, you can buy into the 250 MB on-demand plan and surf as needed.

He also points out one of the undersung prizes of the AT&T plans; they give unlimited access to the company's WiFi infrastucture across the country, including thousands of Starbucks hotspots and former Wayport networks (lots of hotels and airports, where the daily fee for broadband could quickly add up to the $14.95 you'd pay for a month of 3G). That alone is a noticeable benefit.

I agree with Jason's main point: unless your iPad use model is restricted to known hotspot zones, it makes good sense to consider the 3G units. It's only at the end of the post, in the crystal ball 'n tea leaves department, that I wonder if he's right: anticipating a relatively near-term scenario where the iPad product line unifies to an all-3G offering, and the WiFi-only iPad simply goes away.

It's certainly true that "Apple is a company that prefers simplicity in its product lines," as Jason says. To say that the presence of six SKUs for the iPad is going to "chafe a whole lot of people in Cupertino," however, seems to be a stretch. Would three iPad models be more to the company's liking? Well, sure -- but there are six pocket products for iPhone OS (eight, if you count the white and black iPhones as different SKUs, which technically they are), and that seems to be working out fine so far.

You might say "But that's six SKUs across two different products!" (which is pretty much what Jason did say). Yes, the iPhone and the iPod touch have some powerful differentiators, like the presence of 3G and GPS on the iPhone (sound familiar?), and of course the fact that one makes phone calls and the other one mostly does not. Despite those differences, what unifies them into a single product family is that they share the same OS & application suite, the same UI, and the same ability to use the App Store; if they were living creatures, they might be two closely related species in the same genus. Give an iPhone user an iPod touch, let them sync up their apps and content from iTunes, and off they'll go -- in much the same way that a Mac mini owner could migrate to a MacBook without worrying about rebuying all the software and learning new ways of doing things.

Given that we're already looking at a 6-8 SKU population in the "pocket touch" family of devices, a six-SKU gaggle of iPads doesn't seem like too much to manage, nor does it bust Cook's Product Postulate ("everything we sell could probably fit on a conference table"). That brings us to Jason's second forecast: ubiquitous WLAN connectivity on everything. "Embedding cellular connectivity in devices is the future," he says. "I'd imagine that, by this time next year, every iPad Apple sells will include cellular-data access." The emphasis is mine, and that's because that forecast time is relevant.

There are several reasons why Apple might not choose to sell every iPad with a cell antenna, SIM slot and radio chipset; cost, weight, battery life, and potential regulatory hurdles outside the US all come to mind. What's also interesting to me is that April 2011 target and how it matches up with the LTE rollout from Verizon -- yes, you remember them -- as we're hearing more and more whispers of a V-iPhone, presumably ready for both CDMA and LTE-based 4G, coming in the third quarter. If Verizon keeps to its schedule, there will be 30 markets and more than 100 million US consumers covered by the new high-speed wireless network by the time 2010 rolls to a close, with more coverage rolling out through 2011.

In April of 2011, the lure of selling an iPad with 4G on board would be most compelling to Apple's engineering and marketing teams. It would be unstoppably fast in covered areas and finally begin to deliver on the two-way video future we're all looking towards. The catch: 4G chipsets will still be at a premium, and 4G service will still be putting a drag on battery life... so I'm betting there will still be room for a (relatively) bargain-priced iPad without it when the calendar rolls around. I do believe Jason's right in principle and that the unified iPad theory is eventually going to be proven out, but my guess is that we won't see full-4G across the iPad line until Q4 2011 or even the beginning of 2012.

If I'm wrong, I'll buy Jason a beer. And pay for it using my iPad.

TUAWTo wait, or not to wait? Macworld weighs in on the lure of the 3G iPad originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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I got a good question today via Twitter that I have some expertise in: 

What would you consider the "best" monitor for Macs...for a [good] price?

I've been buying monitors for small to midsize companies for awhile and have one each of a Sharp, Dell, Samsung, Apple and HP monitor in my house so I feel like I have a bit of experience in the area.

Discalimer: If you are a professional artist, you are going to want to buy an Apple or some other high end monitor.  There are a lot out there, but this reccomendation isn't for you.

Dell has the best value in monitors and has for the last few years.  They aren't Apple displays but they are very solid and look good. 

If every penny counts, you can find the Dell 1600x900 20" display out there every once in awhile for $89.  But really, for $40 more you can step up to 1080P resolution.

I say this cold: No one should have to buy anything less than a 1080P 1920x1080 screen.  You can buy a 22" 1080P display for $129 with free shipping on sale at Dell every once in awhile.  If it isn't on sale, you can usually find it refurbished for that price or less.   I use a Samsung equivalent in my bedroom as a mediacenter display and it works great for Blu-Ray movies at about 4-8 feet away.  This is basically the same display as the iMac 22" without LED lighting.  The viewing angles aren't what you'll get in a more expensive display and the color takes a little callibration (2 minutes, very easy) but you have a 1080P display on your desk for less than the price of a parking ticket in some cities.

But that's not the best inexpensive monitor you can buy right now.  Dell makes a 23" "better than HD" 2048x1152 display with HDMI, VGA and DVI inputs, USB Hub, cable management, Webcam and analog audio I/O.  It also looks great with a "not as glossy as Apple's" display.  It doesn't have internal audio, but I'd rather use external speakers (for another day's review).  You can currently get it for $229 at Dell.

The viewing angles are great but it also has an adjustible arm in the back for both angle and height (Apple's are angle only).

I won't lie.  I miss the old 16:10 ratio of the 1920x1200 displays.  I think they are better for computer use, 16:9 obviously better for movies, but there are only a few vendors still selling those displays and they are overpriced and clunky.  What's great about the bigger 2048x1152 display is that you get all of the pixels of the 1920x1200,but at a 16:9 ratio.

This display also don't require Apple's horrific $100 Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter.  It works with the standard Displayport-DVI (or HDMI) cable which is like $10.  I have an older, second hand 30-inch Apple Cinema Display in my basement that works fine with Dual DVI Macs but keeps going fuzzy with the newer DisplayPort Macs.  It has been replaced a few times and Apple, after over a year on the market still doesn't have a fix.  See more here. 

Until Apple fixes this part, I can't reccomend anything with more pixels than this Dell display without native DisplayPort built in like this Dell or the 27-inch iMac. 

The iPad launch is drawing near, so it's not surprising that much of our most popular Apple news for the week was about the highly anticipated device. However, we also saw some news about iPhone app use, Kindle software coming to the Mac, and more.

iPad mania: hot presales, iBooks info, 3G model semipopular: Here's a round-up of iPad-related details we discovered today, including some good news about iBooks and why the $130 extra for the 3G + WiFi model might be worth it after all.

40% of Blackberry users willing to trade in for an iPhone: BlackBerry users tended to have fierce brand loyalty, but the iPhone is apparently changing that. And, while more BlackBerry users are planning to switch to an iPhone, Android-based devices are starting to garner more attention as well.

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ost Bluetooth speakers have historically been expensive; it's not uncommon to spend over $100 for something that would normally cost $80 or less. Tenqa wants to solve that with the SP-109, a Bluetooth speaker that comes in at just $50. We'll find out in our review if the device is a minor revolution or has the quality to match the low price....

Vaja has recently been teasing its early lineup of cases for the iPad. Its lineup so far will start with the Retro Slim Jacket; the Argentinian leather sleeve fully covers the Apple tablet and supplies padding along with a magnetic latch to keep the design simple. Although only one color is on display so far, it's likely Vaja will let buyers customize both the main color and the inset hue....

MouseWait is great for planning your trip to Disneyland.

bizwriter writes "Apple has upset the e-book pricing cart by agreeing to a so-called agency model, where the publisher sets the price and the seller takes a cut. This goes contrary to the degree of control Amazon likes, so although it apparently gave in to Macmillan back in February, it turns out that Amazon continues twisting arms. The problem publishers face is that Apple has a most-favored-nation clause, so it gets the best deal that the publishers offer. If the publishers give in to Amazon, then they also have to provide the same terms to Apple."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SanDisk's homepage has begun teasing "something big" launching this Tuesday. The company hasn't provided any direct hints but leads off its teaser with "memory full" and shows what appears to be an anthropomorphized drive or media player. No leaks have appeared lately to supply extra hints....

In the world according to Sprint, the solution is not the next generation iPhone on the nation’s most improved network, but rather...

Apple's 'Meet iPad' TV ad had a pretty strong week with 2.4 million views, good enough...

Filed under: iPhone, Music

Earlier we were hearing that Apple might get involved in location-based ad-hoc social networking, and now it looks like Plastikman might beat them to the punch. That's the DJ, not the superhero -- he's released an iPhone app that's designed to be used at his concerts this summer, giving you some personal involvement on your iPhone while the music and video of the show goes on around you. It's a free download, and while at a concert on a free Wi-Fi network, the app will receive real-time information about the music and video during the show, and even give access to some of the samples being used. Outside of shows, the app says it will work as an "atmospheric location shifter," using the iPhone's microphone and headphones to wrap users "in a Plastikman environment." Whatever that means. The point here is that this is an app actually built for a specific location, adding in specific funcationality when you're on a certain Wi-Fi network. That's a very cool idea. Even if you don't have Plastikman tickets (looks like he's only playing Coachella and one show in Detroit here in the US), the idea of location-specific software is one we'll probably see come up again in the future.

TUAWPlastikman releases SYNK, an app for his tour originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mac geeks estimate that Apple presold 120,000 iPads on March 12, but it's not just aficionados...