iPhone 4.0 - Multitasking And iTablet

There's talk that on the 27th, Apple will unveill more than just iTablet. Whatever happens that day, we are potentially looking at what also comes next for the iPhone platform. After the iPod Touch came out, Apple stated that there could be other devices from Apple based on this modified OS X.

So, we come to iPhone 4.0. One of the features some users are hoping for is the ability to run apps in the background. As an Android device owner, I have to say that the ability to have whatever music or podcast stream in the background is something I like to see on the iPod Touch or the iPhone.

How can Apple make this work? More at Onxo Mobile Devices.

Will We Ever See An iPhone Nano?

Will we ever see the iPhone Nano or another iPhone with a different design from the current one?

The iPhone is still at the top of the mobile field of devices.  Droid and Nexus One might be good, even excellent, devices, but when it comes to the package as a whole, Apple is still way ahead of the pack.

Still, public perception is important.  Because of the plethora of hardware developers support Windows Mobile and Android, you will get a pretty good selection of phones to pick from.  You still get:

• sliders, 
• ones with keyboards 
• ones with keyboards in a clam-shell 
• ones like the iPhone like Nexus One

And then there are devices with forms somewhere in between.

With the current iPhone design, Apple will satisfy a majority of the market but still a large segment that insists on the clam shape or having a physical keyboard will

It's conceivable that Apple will never come out with an iPhone with physical keyboards as patent fights in the past have gotten kind of messy.  So, will we ever see a second iPhone model?  Specifically, the iPhone Nano?

Well, in the past posts, speculations, and rumors that I've read, it's always about the Nano having smaller screens.  I'll be blunt.  That's not going to work.  Imagine the wholesale complaints.  Jobs is not going to for that at all.  So, we can forget about a 2.7" screen right now.

However, it is entirely possible that the iPhone and iPod Touch can go to 4.5" or even 5".  Here's how I think it's possible for Apple to make an iPhone nano.  And that will leave the 3.5" screen size all for the iPhone nano, thereby, not compromising the screen size or resolution.  And having a decent screen size for touch input is more important than any new features Apple can add to the OS.  It won't matter if Apple adds 1,000 new features in iPhone 4.0 if the users have difficulties using the nano.

I don't know how like we'll see a nano as I described it or in another form factor.  It really depends on the market and where things are as through Apple's eyes.  I have no doubt that Apple has experimented with every conceivable technologies, sizes, and shapes to see what the ideal design for such a device can be.

Apple's design team can come up with a game changing design and if Steve Jobs doesn't like it, it may as well not even exist.  Rumors has it that Apple rejected the tablet many times, shelving the project until recently.

I'm pretty confident that Apple will eventually come out with an iPhone with a radically different design than the one we current have on the market.  I can only guess like I'm doing now.  Except great intermittent rumors here and there about it.  I look forward them:  the nano and rumors about it.

Auto-Save On All Apps

I was writing a really long post today on the iPhone. It was about McDonald's free Wi-Fi and how it can be very important in helping the fast food joint maintain its lead over competitors. I was about to post it and then a call came in.

I answered the call, chatted with the caller, and hung up. I went back to the app and guess what? I lost everything.

Here are a couple of things that I like to see Apple require from all of its app developers:

• During the initiation of the call, the hitting of the home button, or any activity that takes the user away from the app in use, the app will go into a sleep mode or saved mode.  This will make sure any unsaved data is still in the memory somewhere and easily retrievable.
• After a call, I like to see the iPhone take the user back to the original app unless the home button is pressed.

I'm not a developer so I don't know if these protocols are already available to the programmer.  And it is, it ought to be a requirement.  If not, Apple should make the appropriate changes and add them to the next version of the SDK.

Looking Forward to Apple Mobile in 2010

The iPhone 3GS has been out on the market for about seven months now and it's still going strong.  When Apple report its first quarter earning, I'm expecting more than 10 million units sold.  This number is on the higher end of what the clueless analysts on Wall Street are expecting.  A couple are expecting to see 11 million but I think that's high unlikely.

As for Macbooks, I think we'll be surprised by the number of Macs Apple will sell.

But that's all in the past.  It's 14 or 15 days into the new year.  What can we expect for the rest of the year.  We know Apple will be holding a special event on January 27th, the last Wednesday of the month.  The good bet is that Apple will be unveiling a new mobile devices that, I, along with the rest of the tech blog world, think is the fabled iTablet (or iSlate).

What's more certain is that there will be thirteen or so more days of insane rumors about it until the 27th.

There are a lot of rumors about the expected iPhone update.  The rumors, though I won't get into, are just as plentiful as those about the iTablet.  I have my own speculations and hopes for the 4th gen iPhone, I am trying really hard not to get ahead of myself and the reality of what Apple's past upgrade cycle is like, and the competitive mobile market.

I'm speculating that Apple will ship the new iPhone by mid-year like it always does with a spring update on the forthcoming iPhone OS update.  What kind of throw a wretch into this year's product cycle is the addition of the iTablet into the mix.  There is speculation that the dearth of iPhone OS update is due largely to the iTablet as it shares many of the new features with the upcoming iPhone and Apple simply want to make sure it doesn't tip its hand.

I think we'll see the end of the iPod Classic and a new era of touch-only iPods.  Only the nano and shuffle will survive the product transition.  The Touch will continue to be an phoneless iPhone.  Should the iTablet and iPhone gain a webcam, the Touch's popularity will simply explode among the younger consumers as it is likely to gain the same features as the iPhone.

Of course, Apple can make it more interesting for the mobile market to follow by introducing an iPod Touch with wireless connectivity via 3G networks.  Imagine using a Touch with data access only and communications will take place via voice or video.  Such a device can help usher in the beginning of the end of voice plans.

This is software for the iPhone, Mac, and iTablet comes into play.  I like to see Apple diminish the role of the traditional telephone number.  This can be done in two ways:

• Video conferencing and voice chat through voice API built into OS X.  With the possibility of the Touch through 3G or Wi-Fi also gaining a webcam (the Touch already possess voice capability via the iPod headset).  Even if iChat doesn't make its way to i-devices, these API will allow app developers to include these features to the apps.  Imagine gaming while being able to talk to others.  
• Google Voice works by swapping one phone number for another.  An useful feature but literally redundant in the mobile world.  I see Apple allow users to create ID (MobileMe users can use their login) and link it to their telephone numbers.  As more and more users start using their ID to communicate with each other and rely less on traditional phone numbers, we will begin to see the death of the ten-digit phone numbers.  I also see Google Voice adopt a similar ability with Google logins.  Apple will simply skip all the way to the final end.  I also see Apple, Google, and others adopt an industry standard for IM, voice, chat, and video communication.

About the Mac.  Multi-touch will see a greater role.  This is one area where I'm not as certain what Apple has in-stored for us.  Certainly, more multi-touch adoptions.  We might possible see a Tablet Mac but that is as far as I'm willing to speculate.

There can't be anything about mobile unless I talk about battery life.  This has always been Apple's weakness.  As much as I am used having a built-in battery into all my iPods, iPhone, and iPod Touch, I can quickly get used to an iPhone with a removable battery.  But that's not gonna happen.  So?

So, I am hoping Apple will dazzle us with another breakthrough that extends the battery life of its mobile products.  To put things into perspective, Nvidia's Tegra 2 chip (via Macrumors) allows 16 hours of HD video, 140 hours of music, and 1080p video.

I would expect the iTablet and the newest iPhone and Touch to exceed the current models.

• I am hoping for 10-20% increase in battery life during real world use.  Music playing should be closer to 40 hours while Internet use should be closer to 8 hours on 3G and 12 hours on Wi-Fi.  I don't do much talking on the iPhone but increases in standby and talk time would be cool too.
• For the iTablet, I would like to see upwards of 15 hours of Internet use, 15-18 hours of HD video, and 150-180 hours of music.  (I don't care much about 1080p display out.  That's what HDTV and Blu-Ray players are for.)

So, that's what I'm looking forward to from Apple in 2010 starting on January 27th.  Meanwhile, we can look forward to the daily spectacular Apple rumors to hold us over until then.

Apple's Newest Mobile Rival, Google, May Leave Search Market Over Censorship

Google may close up shop and leave the Chinese search market after a string of cyberattacks.

Also, Google, my favorite tech giant at this moment, will cease censoring its search engine. It will enter into discussions with Beijing on "the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all".

This is huge news.  This is how you do it, Yahoo, Microsoft, the West!  Very Very proud of Google!

More at Yahoo News, CNBC, Gizmodo, LA Times, CNet News.

Which iTablet Would You Want?

Over at CES, Dell just unveiled their own slate (I think this will be 2010's most overused word).

It's a 7" iPod Touch lookalike except it runs Android.

So, let me ask you this. Would you be interested in a 5-7" iPod Touch that you can use as a tablet? Personally, I would be very very interested.

Perhaps, this is what some of the rumors is about as far as Apple tablets are concerned. There have been talk about 7" all the way up to 11". I am hoping that Apple will come out with a few models that will satisfy a wider range of customers.

For anything around 7", I think customers would be satisfied with the 7" Touch to be running the regular iPhone OS. However, for the 10-11" model, I like to something more spectacular.

More on Dell's slate at Gizmodo.

Excited About the iTablet? My E-Mail To A Friend About it.

This is my reply to Dave The Mobile Warrior about the excitement building up to the 27th, which is Apple's event that will supposedly unleash the iTablet-iSlate upon the world: Hey, This is the future-Paul. I have pre-preordered this baby. :-) This is the future Paul with the itablet/islate. Let the now-Paul know he's going to be very satified. He is also very happy for future-Dave who listened to the Jan 27th-Paul about preorderig as well. Sent from my iPhone (from a not too distant future)

Editorial on iTablet Rumors

Here's a post I wrote at Onxo on dealing with iTablet rumors.  I think it's great to be able to indulge in them but we just have to prepare ourselves to be disappointed when what we hope for and what we get doesn't compute.


Basically, enjoy the rumors but until we see Steve Jobs on stage holding an iTablet, it may as well be free because it still doesn't exist.  Yet.


More at Onxo.

App Store Suggestion: Apple Should Take Out Apps That Doesn't Work

I know that Apple already has an iron grip on the app store approval process. Personally, I haven't had too many run-ins with the enigmatic exercise. But recently, I decided that I was going to get on board with Barnes and Noble's ebook initiative. Boy, was that a mistake.

Here's a bit of my history with ebooks. I've been reading on a mobile device since Palm V back in 2000. Been reading ever since despite what Steve Jobs would like us to think. And for more Apple fans, I think you all pretty much read ebooks or otherwise. Some of these books are downloaded and other bought from eReader.com and Fictionwise (Fictionwise bought eReader and, in turn, Fictionwise was bought out later by Barnes and Noble).

I have a couple of books with Kindle on the iPhone as well, one of the better things to have happen to the iPhone and iPod Touch in my opinion. But what has kept me from siding with Amazon is the little fact that Amazon feels it has the right to come into your mobile device or Kindle to steal back books you already bought whenever it feels like it. No, let's not splice this. Amazon reserves the right to do this. Fine. I'm sure others do as well but with BN and others, I can make a backup copy of everything I buy.

So, I decided I was going to go with BN for all my future ebook fixes. The probably is that for BN, you either have to use the Nook or the iPhone app (assuming you're using an iPhone or iPod Touch). The Nook is viritually not for sale as there is a long wait. Hence, you're stuck with the iPhone app.

But it doesn't work. I mean there's some quirky things going on with the app that makes it crash right after startup. I don't know what the deal is but BN really dropped the ball on the app and it has seen complaints rise on its own website as well as on iTunes while the app's ratings and reputation plummeted.

Now we get to the meat of this post. Apple ought to provide a process of pulling bad apps like this from the store until developers can fix complaints such as thing. Apple already has a tight control of the app store process, it might as well as exert greater control in issues where quality of the app is at play.

When we use the iPhone and iPod Touch, or any other Apple products, we pay a small premium because Apple gears just work. And when it doesn't, as in the case of the BN reader app, Apple ought to pull it until BN's software guys can fix this.

Qik: Live Video Streaming For Mobile Warriors

Qik. I like you to meet the company that’s going to be on the forefront of mobile video streaming. And it’s not just ordinary stream I’m talking about here.

With the Qik app for the iPhone and Android devices, any mobile warrior can become a broadcaster.

Qik has been around for a bit now but it was only recently when Apple allowed Qik to stream live video from the iPhone app that it has suddenly gained a lot of attention in the media and blogs.

For instance, I was able to provide a live stream from my iPhone 2G tethered to the G1 via Wi-Fi Tether and show off a couple of minutes of video from last night’s dinner to a friend overseas.

There is a wide range of implications for this new mobile app. Forget citizen journalists providing near instant updates with still pictures, now folks can report on news right from their mobile device.

How about for folks who can’t make it birthday parties and weddings? No problem if someone at the event is kind enough to provide some live video of the vow or candles being blown out.

The video quality for Qik was good enough consider where we are today with streaming technology and I’m confident that we’ll get to play with better quality videos as mobile devices become apt at handing the load and wireless speed improve with additional 3G upgrades to 7.2mbps or 4th generation wireless. Keep in mind that I was streaming through a tethered iPhone over 3G.

But there is something that I have to come back to: battery life. Wow, did Qik kill my battery on the iPhone. It wasn’t the app’s fault. It’s a fact of life, you know? If live user-provided content are to make inroads, battery life has to improve vastly. I’m going to try this weekend to see what kind of battery life I’ll be able to get out of this.

I’ve got an external battery glove for the iPhone and I’m also able to stream directly from the G1. And I’ve got an extra battery for the Android phone.