Apple officially unveiled the next version of the OS X operating system in the iPhone. Dubbed iPhone OS 3.0, this next version brings copy and paste, cut, MMS and so much more. In fact there are 100 new features in the OS plus several fascinating new possibilities for app developers. 

Perhaps one of the coolest new features for developers will be the ability to make in-app purchases for new features and content. These will work like subscriptions and will be ideal for things like additional game levels and new content. Also a nifty new feature will be the peer to peer ad-hoc iPhone networks using Bluetooth. 

No. 2 – Hidden iPhone OS 3 Features Will Push Business Forward

This PCWorld story talks about key new features that will propel the iPhone further into corporate America. Specifically…over 1000 new API (application programming interfaces) will be available in iPhone OS 3.0. This is huge not jut because of the sheer size of the many new APIs but because of how many new ones pertain to corporate enterprise computing. 

Key new items include Exchange Server, CalDAV and .ics subscriptions added to the Calendar application, LDAP, EAS and better group calendaring functionality. 

And this article talks about all the buzz going on regarding the new OS APIs. Also a good related read. 

No. 3 – How to Make a Cool $1.5 Million with an iPhone App

Fortune also got a hold of a story on the decision by Pangea Software to drop Mac game development to focus exclusively on the iPhone. Pangea’s quick path to so much money ($1.5 million+) with one hit iPhone game has forced the company to reconsider how they plan development for the Mac. It looks like the company will stop producing Mac games in the short term to focus exclusively on the iPhone and iPod Touch platform.

No. 4 – Apple Holding Back on Web 3D?

This post at Ars Technica is interesting as it pertains to Apple’s Safari web browser and the future of desktop browsing. Specifically Apple may indeed by holding back on the desktop by not allowing the use of “3D position and transform” and other 2D-based CSS-based transform abilities currently live on Safari mobile. 

These transforms (CSS transforms) added to the WebKit are interesting and provide useful UI effects on the iPhone. We suspect that they will emerge in Safari for the desktop at some point. To read the details go here.

No. 5 – Architosh Readers Group at LinkedIn

Our own news about our architosh Readers Group at LinkedIn.com forms our fifth most important news for us. Yes, we think this is important as it portends to future trends online wherein social media networks begin to fuse with media outlets and their common members. To some media outlets it may not seem wise to send readers to a social network, but we beg to differ and see possibilities and values that are currently transparent.

The post MacFive: Mar 22: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

According to a report by the Enterprise Desktop Alliance, 74 percent of companies plan to expand Mac use within their companies. 314 companies took the survey and only 2 percent said they would be decreasing the use of Macs within their companies. The survey cited both productivity gains and employee preference as the main reasons enterprises are adopting more Macs within their organizations. Lower cost of ownership is also playing an important role. Of the IT managers in the survey nearly 60 percent are managing more than 100 Macs within a wide range of enterprise-class companies. To read the full report go here.

No. 2 – Apple to preview iPhone OS X 3.0 at Town Hall Event

Apple invited press to a special Town Hall style event to take an early look at the iPhone 3.0 firmware update. Apple intends to show the IT press that the company plans to stay on the bleeding edge of mobile operating system software and not fall behind its key rivals such as the new Palm-pre with its advanced Web-OS. 

No. 3 – Apple Set to Introduce Netbook-like Device this Summar/Fall

Taiwanese touch panel maker claims working order for Apple. Wintek, according to this post on Forbes, is set to supply touch panels for an yet-to-be-named Apple device. This maybe the long-awaited and anticipated Mac touch Architosh has written about in the past (see images). 

Apple is not the same position as its OEM computer-maker competition. The company’s regular-sized laptops continue to be hot sellers, meaning the company is not under pressure to deliver and compete in the low-cost Netbook market. This means Apple will likely wait to deliver something that changes the overall game for a device that is touch-based and fits between its popular iPhone and iPod touch devices and its wildly popular Mac mobile lineup. This future device may also be powered by a chip from Apple’s PA Semi division. 

No. 4 – Apple’s App Store Now at 25,000 Applications and Growing

Apple’s App Store is now at 25,000 applications and still growing. A report on AppleInsider says the store is nearing a pace of $1 billion in annual revenue. Apple has accomplished with the App Store in just nine months what Microsoft has taken nine years to accomplish. 

“The iPhone App Store has redefined the smartphone industry,” said Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf. “In a game of ‘follow the leader’, most operating system platforms, including Android, Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian, announced they were opening similar online stores.”

No. 5 – Snow Leopard to launch June 8

Infoworld.com has a report claiming that Apple’s next operating system, Snow Leopard, will be rolled out June 8 during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which takes place June 6-12, 2009. 

Is Snow Leopard Apple’s Secret Business Weapon? (see Infoworld report).

Apple has not published the schedule for WWDC 2009 yet. However, reports are coming out of information listed at the Moscone Center.

The post MacFive: Mar 15: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

When Apple launched the App Store with the release of the iPhone G3 it did so with 500 applications. No small number. Today, there are now a whopping 10,000 applications for the popular iPhone and iPod touch models. 

More importantly however is the pace of downloads for these applications, now seeing an acceleration, an indication of both iPhone sales and the quality of and desire for top now applications for the iPhone. During Apple’s October conference call the company said it was on the verge of reaching 200 million downloads. In the span of just six (6) weeks the company has added another 100 million. 

No. 2 – iPhone Market Share Growth = 328% YoY

Silicon Valley Insider, one of my favorites to read, had one of the better stories this past Friday with the titled article, “Apple Blows Past Microsoft.” Specifically Apple’s iPhone is now in third place in overall market share, with Apple selling 4.7 million iPhones in most recent quarter, behind RIM at 5.8 million Blackberry’s and Nokia’s Symbian partners with 18.5 million phones. 

Between the top three in the most recent quarter they sold a total of 29 million smartphones. Microsoft’s partners sold just 4.1 million, down 3 percent YoY. Apple zoomed past its competitors with 328 percent Year-over-Year (YoY) growth. 

No. 3 – Google Talks to Architosh About SketchUp Pro 7

John Bacus, product manager of SketchUp at Google spoke to us this week regarding the new SketchUp Pro 7 and Layout 2. This discussion was very illuminating as John clarified several issues related to OpenGL rendering speed and the differences between “interactive” rendering versus pre-determined or “determinate” renders. In the case of the former, the program cannot determine with certainty where the next frame will be and hence cannot split the render pipeline ad start a pre-render process. John Bacus describes this as avoiding the violation of causality. 

No. 4 – Rumor Could Lead to New Game Field – iPhone

A rumor later in the week that Wal-Mart would deliver a $99 4GB iPhone is a deserving story for MacFive. The theory is Apple will quickly move to shed its remaining inventory following the Christmas holiday season with an exclusive and time-limited discount iPhone — as part of Wal-Mart’s new agreement to carry the device with a two-year contract. 

If Apple was to enter the discount smartphone market it could quickly lead to an iPod-level explosion of market share for Apple’s mobile platform. Already studies indicate teens are a high target market for sophisticated smartphones that blend music, gaming and texting. Such a trend would be a game changer. 

No. 5 – Snow Leopard May Drag A Bit

An AppleInsider report suggested earlier in the week that Snow Leopard may be coming along slower than the recent reports awhile back about it possibly being earlier. What is most interesting in this report is the part that puts a heavy emphasis on Microsoft Exchange support. Apple may be scheduling some significant updates to Mail, iCal and Address book that go hand-in-glove with the Microsoft Exchange support in Snow Leopard. 

I suspect that MobileMe integration in regards to Exchange support will also be included. What Apple appears interested in doing is targeting business users more and more, hence the emphasis on Exchange.

The post MacFive: Dec 7: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

No. 2 – Obama faces ban on Blackberry and Apple at White House

There is a wonderful and interesting story about Obama and his geek toys not making it to the White House come his January inauguration. Apparently US Presidents don’t get to have their own laptops or cell phones. Gee? I wasn’t aware…were you? Obama is a MacBook Pro guy — so this is great to finally see a Mac user back in the White House again. Al Gore, who ran for the White House eight years ago was not a Mac user at the time, but has since switched back to the Mac after being appointed an Apple board member. 

As for the Blackberry, last week RIM announced that it is finally coming out with Mac syncing software for its popular Blackberry smartphones. This should make a lot of people happy — including Obama (…if only he could keep using his cell phone!) 

No. 3 – Microsoft’s Future Web-based Office Suite to Run on Linux, Safari and iPhone

According to this report on ZDNet, the future of Office isn’t tied to Windows or Internet Explorer. The upcoming Microsoft Office Web Applications will not require Internet Explorer. MS-OWA’s will work across multiple platforms and browsers including Apple’s Safari and FireFox too. They will even work on the Safari browser on the iPhone. And Linux! 

According to this Microsoft blogger the future web-based Office suite will not replace the boxed version of software.

No. 4 – Will the iPhone gobble up iPods? No, the iPod will evolve into flavored versions — one version being a Gaming Machine

That is exactly what will happen and it’s nice to see the beginning of that coming to fruition now. This BBC report discusses Apple’s growing momentum in the mobile game device market, where Nintendo and Sony compete. 

Sega, Electronic Arts (EA) and Hudson are all creating games for the iPod and iPhone now. The big advantage Apple has is that they have the App Store where buyers can peruse not just games but over 5000 programs (1500+ games) for their iPod touch or iPhone. And best yet, the programs cost much less than the “cartridge-based” old school method of mobile gaming. Whether Apple succeeds fully is yet to be determined. It’s an early market, as the report notes, but one where Apple can be a big player. 

No. 5 – Apple’s iPhone Number One Handset in US in 3rd Quarter

The iPhone has taken the crown from Motorola’s popular Razr, according to NPD data for the US handset (mobile phone) market in the third quarter. The Razr had been the number one handset for 12 quarters straight.

The post MacFive: Nov 16: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

Roughly Drafted dissects the three types of “disruption in technology” in this finely thought out piece here. Daniel Eran Dilger has written a very interesting article illustrates the differences between what he calls Conventional Disruption, Dropped Ball Disruption, and Fantasy Disruption. 

What distinguishes his article for me is the notion of the three types. This is compared of course to Clayton Christensen’s landmark book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.”  BusinessWEEK actually has the first chapter to Christensen’s book here. If you have read this book then you will find the Roughly Drafted article interesting to you. It adds another layer of thought to what Christensen so deftly defines. This is all very useful reading for people in technology and in technology investing. I highly recommend it. 

No. 2 – Apeer Comes to the Mac

For those in the business and enterprise space this might excite you. A hot new software product in the collaboration space is by a company called Apeer, Inc. This week they announced that they will unveil a Mac version at conference in Los Angeles. 

Apeer touts it has the world’s first “all-in-one group communication and collaboration” platform with Apeer Professional. A new and unique product Apeer enables synchronous and instant multi-user exchanges using multimedia and documents. All parties can simultaneously view photos, hear music, see videos in real time over the Internet, all in one window. To discuss things with each other Apeer supports built in voice and chat. You can read more about it here.

No. 3 – Apple’s Mac mini and AppleTV may just become one

Yes, this my hunch at least. ArsTechnica has a story telling Apple Mac mini fans to “just be patient.” But patient for what? It appears that an Apple executive tipped off that Apple has something afoot for the mini. Everyone knows of course that Apple’s hobby, AppleTV is still just a hobby but Jobs is being coy about that and has been since the start. Apple clearly has aspirations about the TV, movies and the iTunes Store. In fact, couldn’t it also be possible that PA Semi folks at Apple are working on a specialized chip for the future AppleTV? 

No. 4 – Whose the Real Father of the iPod?

Cringley has really outdone himself this time. In this illuminating read Robert X. Cringley of PBS has concocted a grand chess game strategy behind the departure of Tony Fadell and the hiring of IBM’s Mark Papermaster. 

Moreover, Cringley goes on to say that Jobs really wants Papermaster to head up the PA Semi folks for a secret line of scalable processors (main board cpu’s) that are “optimized for Snow Leopard and beyond.” But in order to throw off the judge he needed to put Papermaster in Tony’s position because heading up the iPod and iPhone division means putting Mark Papermaster into a consumer product line and that means nothing about what he is doing centers on the IT enterprise or the business of computers. Pretty neat, huh? 

And remember what I wrote last week about this. What does the Noncompete Agreement really say? There are three levels to the noncompete clauses. One centers on being a “significant competitor” to IBM. They aren’t even in the same business arenas. Two, a “major competitor” of the company. Same as one. No. And three, “engages in competition with business units or divisions of IBM.” 

This last one is the the catch. Apple’s PA Semi division does, will and can engage in direct competition with Big Blue’s semiconductor business. 

No. 5 – Of Luke Skywalker’s Speeder and the Future of Microchips

Okay, so we all know that in Star Wars there is a whole range of technology wonders that may or may not ever come to pass in our life here on Earth. Or anybody’s life here on Earth. The possibility of a real lightsaber is one of them — unfortunately. Boo…I always wanted one. 

Now researches at UC Berkley are blazing ahead with a new technique in focusing light rays in a process called “plasmonic lithography” and it promises to get those little patterns etched onto silicon-based chips reduced to even tinier scales, thus shrinking chips while etching more circuitry onto them. 

Plasmonic lithography converts light into waves called plasmons, a type of radiation that unfortunately doesn’t radiate very far. So, in order to get such tiny waves of light etched into silicon one must use a non-physical, non-mechanical cushion, thus the “air bearings” technique. Air bearings enable the suspension of the key lens to get within 20 nanometers above the surface of the chip during the etching process. So…remember thinking, “how does Luke’s speeder actually float about the surface of Tatooine?” 

Ah…perhaps it was air bearings?

The post MacFive: Nov 9: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

Ballmer and troops seem to have finally learned an important lesson from Apple: when it comes to your next OS, keep your mouth shut! BusinessWEEK’s Stephen Wildstrom filed a report on his preview experience from Microsoft’s Professional Developer’s Conference and states that “Windows 7 is conceptually a bit like Windows 98” as is Windows Vista is to Windows 95. Got that? Yes, Windows 7 like Windows 98 doesn’t dramatically change Windows like Vista did but rather improves on all that is wrong with Vista. That should be welcoming to fans of Redmond’s operating systems but based on reader feedback on BusinessWEEK that doesn’t sound all that exciting. 

No. 2 – Commentary: Apple Indicators Spook Microsoft, not Apple’s Market Share

John Martellar, a former Apple sciences marketing manager and now columnist at The Mac Observer, opined this interesting read regarding where Microsoft’s key failure points are. Martellaro utilizes his knowledge of military warfare to draw up an analogy using the 1973 Arab-Israeli War as his reference. So what are real emerging problems that Microsoft sees? Martellaro says they are, 1) Apple’s financial strength, 2) Apple’s retail presence (a growing one…) and 3) Apple’s ability to define the terms of the war with Microsoft through the use of its highly effective “Get a Mac” TV ads. 

If those items aren’t spooking Microsoft perhaps this story by Silicon Alley Insider will. The online publication is demarking the “beginning of the end” for the Windows hegemony based on what is happening with netbooks. Essentially they are growing rapidly and many do not feature Windows at all but rather Linux. In the future many will run a version of Google Gears. 

No. 3 – Full 64-bit Kernel in Apple’s Snow Leopard

AppleInsider has an excellent report on the differences between different levels of 64-bit support in operating systems — specifically detailing 64-bitness in Snow Leopard. If you missed this story during the week go back and read it. It clarifies the technical OS stack in clear diagrams and shows how Snow Leopard differs between Leopard today. Snow Leopard, unlike Mac OS X 10.5, will require 64-bit drivers and KEXT files, but unlike Leopard it has a true 64-bit system and 64-bit kernel. It will still support 32-bit applications with transparent backwards compatibility. 

No. 4 – Apple Gets Serious with MobileMe

Apple has belatedly provided details of its MobileMe web services, finally fixing the issues that plagued the new suite of cross-platform tools that launched in July. MacUser UK is has the details in this report. 

No. 5 – Commentary: Papermaster not to set foot in Cupertino

Our own report summarizes in more detail what was easily the hit tech story of the week. IBM’s Mark Papermaster was an elite VP-level, 26-year IBM veteran with intimate details of IBM chip architecture history and strategy, as well as overall company details, marketing plans and future strategy. Papermaster has apparently joined Apple and IBM has filed suit against Papermaster for violating a 2006 Noncompete Agreement that states that Papermaster was to wait one year from termination date before it engaged with IBM competitors. 

Noncompete Agreements are legally invalid in the state of California, which is Apple’s base of operations. However, Papermaster signed the agreement while working for IBM, based in New York state.

The post MacFive: Nov 2: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

The first top story of the week concerns an article by AllThingsD’s John Paczkowski, entitled: Apple to Microsoft: You Can’t Put Frosting on Manure. The article is referring to Apple’s latest hard-hitting Mac vs PC ads. Have you seen them yet? These two (The V Word and Bean Counter) mock Microsoft for trying to promote Windows Vista without mentioning the product by name. The Apple ad is making reference to the Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates ads that Microsoft released several weeks ago. The Apple ad (Bean Counter) pokes fun at Microsoft for spending so much money on that Seinfeld ad series rather than spending that money on fixing Vista itself. 

No. 2 – Linux vs Vista – American Idol versus Britney Spears

On a more interesting note perhaps is the related comment by Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst saying that Vista marks the end of “planned software.” 

ZDNet UK noted Whitehurst as stating that the big issue with closed-sourced planned software like an OS like Vista is that you cannot foresee all the problems that will arise with it. “If software gets too big, it cannot be organized. This is an indicator of what can be planned,” he said. The article is interesting as it discusses advantages of open-source, modular development strategies versus the big monolithic planned release by a single vendor. Even more impressive is Whitehurst’s comparison to American Idol versus Britney Spears. 

On American Idol Whitehurst said record studios were able to spend far less marketing the eventual winner because audience participation accurately showed which singer was preferred before the competition was even over. On the other hand, a multi-million dollar investment in Britney Spears is not necessarily a sure bet when the record hasn’t even been released. 

What Whitehurst is describing is the difference between Software as a Service (SaaS) versus the monolithic, planned and packaged software release. This issue came up at COFES in 2007 where I attended and participated in a round-table open discussion about SaaS. My comments were limited to my experience with 37signal’s Basecamp Web application. But the overall discussion pointed out several interesting advantages to SaaS over packaged software.

One such advantage is that Web applications are delievered over the Internet and therefore subject to similar types of analysis like a typical Web site. With SaaS you are able to see statistically what features of an application are being used, being ignored, and giving end-users trouble. And you can see this in real-time. This is a lot like “audience participation” in the American Idol versus Britney Spears comparison. 

No. 3 – Yale MBA Dean to lead Apple University

I believe this story has lots of possible merit. Apple has hired Yale University’s School of Management dean, Joel Podoiny. What he will be doing exactly in helping to create and shape Apple University is anybody’s guess. My guess is that it will not be like Pixar University or McDonald’s famed Hamburger University. It will be a pure educational initiative that further cements Apple’s long standing strength within the educational market. Apple University may be nothing short of a total transformation of education within the United States. Or it may be just a bogus and lame attempt to further leverage iTunes U — which is a great program by the way. 

No. 4 – Apple’s Revenue Bomb – Hey Microsoft! Watch out…

Apple released its quarterly and fiscal year earnings this week and the news was nothing out of the ordinary: another very positive record quarter. But the highlight of the news about Apple’s biz is that they reported non-GAAP earnings of $11.68 billion or $2.69 per share. Bear in mind too, this 4th quarter is not Apple’s strongest — that would be next quarter, during the holidays.

A while back someone wrote that Apple would surpass Microsoft in total revenue within 5 years at its curren rate of growth. I think that person may need to adjust that calculation. Take a look at this chart in this Fortune article titled, “Graphic: How Apple is gaining on Microsoft.” 

No. 5 – Apple Fights Against Same-Sex Marriage Ban – Joins Google in Cause

My last highlight touches the world of politics, always a very sensitive area. Google took the lead on this one but Apple has followed suit in proclaiming its stand against California Proposition 8, which would legally band same-sex marriages. 

“We strongly believe that a person’s fundamental rights — including the right to marry — should not be affected by their sexual orientation,” an Apple statement said. Apple has also donated $100,000 to fight the proposed ban. 

If people are surprised by Apple in taking this stand they shouldn’t be. They are either too young to have witnessed it or have forgotten Apple’s award-winning Think different campaign — an advertising campaign that specifically told the world who Apple’s heroes were, those that chose to speak out or break out: for truth, for liberties, for justice, for pursuit of knowledge, for pursuit of wisdom and for the pursuit of advancements in the arts.

The post MacFive: Oct 26: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.

Those familiar with Adobe’s recent CS4 news involving the Mac version learned that Adobe had to pick its battles in what to bring to the Apple platform. After CS3 was completed Adobe planned on implementing 64-bit support to both Windows and Mac but Apple instead pulled the plug on its planned implementation of 64-bit Carbon APIs (application programming interfaces), the technology ISVs (independent software developers) tap into when writing applications for specific platforms. This forced Adobe’s hand. No 64-bit support for CS4 on the Mac and a necessary long-haul conversion of over a million lines of code from Apple’s Carbon technology to Apple’s newer and preferred Cocoa technology.

This tale makes a nice backdrop to this week’s MacFive™ news story on AppleInsider regarding an all new Cocoa Finder in Snow Leopard, the next version of Mac OS X. It helps explain, perhaps, Apple’s decision to abandon 64-bit support in Carbon. And, aside from the fact that a new Finder in Cocoa may portend to many nice new speed-ups on the Mac, it also may force the hand of Mac CAD and 3D developers who have been lingering around the Carbon farm too long.

No. 2: Dear FireWire Where Art Thou…?

Apple introduced stunning new MacBooks this week — really the high-point of the week for the tech world. These machines are gorgeous and have Nvidia’s newest innovative graphics technology onboard. But what they don’t have is FireWire — at least not on the lower endMacBook model. This has angered many Mac fans, as InfoWorld reports.

“Think of FireWire as USB, but rather than running at 12 megabits-per-second it’s running at 400 megabits-per-second,” said Jobs when he introduced the first Macs with FireWire ports back in 1999 at MacWorld Conference and Expo.

So what is the real big deal in this Apple decision? Is Apple moving away from an industry standard it originally created and help get started? And a good one at that…?

My guess is probably not. The new MacBook Pro includes a FireWire 800 port. As do many other Mac models. But dropping FireWire from the top-selling and popular MacBook means three things that hurt customers today:

• No. 1 – No more Target Disk Mode (TDM), which is used by Apple’s Migration Assistant, a very handy way of setting up a new Mac with an old Mac’s info.
• No. 2 – Sorry about that digital camcorder folks…. Yes, for many customers FireWire is their way from their miniDV cam unit to iMovie.
• No. 3 – No more FireWire over IPv4 – essentially a computer-to-computer network which can be established over FireWire (I believe TDM essentially uses this).

The post MacFive: Oct 19: Top News of the Week appeared first on Architosh.