Apple On Netbook: Crappy Tech With Cramp Keyboards

Apple has some not so nice things to say about the netbooks on the market today. On the point about keyboard (yesterday's earnings call), I'd have to agree. As for the rest, I'm not so sure. LED screens. The Atom chips aren't bad considering they run Leopard just fine.

But I do understand where Apple is coming from on this. The netbooks feel cheap. The keyboards are small, even for me. And from MSI Wind (MacWind) to HP, Sony, and EEE PC, the plastics are just flimsy and you truly do get what you paid for.

I never bought Apple's argument that if folks want a netbook equivalent from Apple, they should go with the iPhone or iPod Touch. Here, we know that it's merely smoke screen. I don't know if anyone really bought it.

But do buy what they say about Apple having ideas about the netbook market and they're watching it closely. And these ideas have been cooking at Apple for a while now and we should see the end results pretty soon.

The netbooks really aren't meant to be a substitute for a laptop or desktop nor was it meant to duplicate the computing and Internet experiences of a fully-equiped PC. And I think there is where philosophical differences come into play.

If Apple wanted to, they can start shipping out a netbook with OS X installed on there on technologies they consider to be subpar to satisfy a small segment of financial analysts and Web pundits who will never rest until they see an official Apple logo on a netbook. It's simply not in Apple's DNA. What will happen is anyone's guess.

Apple isn't ignoring the netbook segment of the market. When Apple finally release their finely tuned mobile device, I hope it will finally put to rest any more talk about netbooks.

Note: When Apple finally address the netbook issues, look for those who are never satisfied to go back and talk about the iPhone nano and why Apple will never survive without it.

Must Read: Apple's Mistake on Baby Shaker

I knew this was going to be a big issue when I first saw it on CNet but I have a feeling that by this time tomorrow, we'll see Apple, iPhone, and Baby Shaker on Fox News by tomorrow morning or at least one of the morning shows.

What's this about? I've got it here at Onxo. Simply put, it's an app that allows the user who is moronic enough to buy it shake their iPhone until the virtual baby stops crying. Suffice to say, it's not in the app store any longer. But it really brings to attention Apple's app approval process.

More importantly, this brings to the attention of the shaken baby syndrome. 15% Of infant deaths are due to SDS. There are more facts that you should also know about. If you want to know more about why we're giving Apple hell, please visit National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome and Sarah Jane Brain Project. And we're not the only ones outraged. Here are others:

• Onxo
• ABC News
• MSNBC
• Washington Times
• Bloomberg
  
• MacDailyNews
• TechCrunch
• CNet
• Macworld
  

Note: We're all Apple fans here but On Apple and Onxo aren't above sticking to Cupertino when they do wrong.

Another note: This really ruined an otherwise great day. Apple beat Wall Street earnings and revenue targets while cleaning up over 11 million iPods and more then 3.7 million iPhones. And the App Store inches ever closer to 1 billion downloads.

Oh, $#&%!!! Pre Is An iPhone Killer!

That's right. How do I know this? Well, I don't but apparently, ATT believes that to be the case. I'm rooting for Palm to stay alive but I won't judge until you mobile warriors have a go at it. I don't trust paid bloggers or media reviewers with agendas.

So, ATT has release a comparison document between the iPhone and the Pre. So, Apple folks, what do you think?

Personally, there are valid points but some are kind of weak like the Wi-Fi. Nothing about MobileMe, iPhone 3.0, or integration with OS X. You know where I'm going with this. But ATT's chart is pretty lame. Where do I start?

• QWERTY keyboard. Why talk about something you don't have?
• Limited WiFi. Dude, please, guys. Folks aren't going to stop buying Pre's because they can't have access to the Starbucks hotspots.
• No roaming and stuff. It's a consumer phone. But it's apoint.

So you see, not a very good chart. Let's try this:

• Access to millions of songs on iTunes. Thousands of TV shows and movies.
• Battery life. Push notification.
• iPhone 3.0 - announced and unannounced features.
• MobileMe that keeps getting better.
• Web clipping and other little known features that are useful.
• iPhone's enterprise features.
• LET'S NOT FORGET THIS: It's an iPod Touch as well!!!
• Ease of use, intuitive.

I'm not a fan of this kind of tactic. Listen, ATT, you're the face of the iPhone. You've got the best device in the market. You're simply bringing attention to a challenger on life-support! It shows you're concerned. Maybe even scared. And it's obvious you're doing this without Apple's blessing or knowledge. Let the merits of your product do your talking. Tell people what the iPhone can do for them and why they need it.

Learn from Apple. Maybe do a "Hi, I'm iPhone. Hi, I'm Pre" commercial instead. Throw the Storm in there as well.

Note: I'm not included to believe Pre is an iPhone killer. Yet. And if it's not, it'll certainly come closer to being that than anything else on the market.

Another note: VW and T-Mobile doesn't seem to be concerned. Perhaps, no leaked docs from them yet. G2 versus Pre, anyone?

Via, Engadget, Precentral

Apple Macbook Refreshes

We're winding down April of 2009. Boy, the year has gone by fast. 6 more months until Halloween (I missed last year's decorations), 7 till Thanksgiving, and 8 till Christmas (I also missed this year's decoration).

And if tradition holds, it'll be about 5-6 months until Apple give the Macbook and the iPod lines a major upgrade. So what's a mobile fan to do?

Buy iPods. Hold on the iPhones. Buy on all of the Apple laptops if you need one today or on the next couple of weeks. However, if you don't need one right away, and you're interested in either the Macbook, Macbook, 15" Macbook Pro, or Macbook Air, hold until May or June when Apple is likely to provide minor changes to those Macbooks to keep the interest high.

The 17" Macbook Pro isn't like to receive any profound changes. We might see a speed bump but that's about it. Sales appear to be strong. However, if there are changes, this is what we'll likely see:

• minor speed bumps
• changes to software in preparation for Snow Leopard

There are possible changes but I'm not so sure about. And this is why I recommend holding for about six weeks if you don't need a new laptop right away:

• Macbook Air change to bring it into line with the look and feel of its siblings. Black frame around the screen and all. Maybe adopt the new battery technology from the 17" Macbook Pro.
• Changes to the battery. The 15" Macbook Pro might join also get the new battery technology.
• More memory for the video card.
• Bigger hard drive.
• Price drop for SSD upgrade.
• Price drop for some upgrade options like memory. It is one of the worst recessions we're experiencing at the moment.

The Macbook is the most unlikely to receive any kind of hardware upgrade. For mobile warriors, timing is going to be the main issue for you. And whether you get it today or six weeks from now, the value is pretty much the same. Great notebook all around, unless you believe what Redmond says. And no matter when you get your Appleware, Microsoft thinks you're cool and awesome!

Dear Game Developers

Over at Onxo, we wrote a letter to all top game developers on what they should do to bring games over to mobile devices like the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Take a look and we love to hear how else we can entice Sega, EA, and others to ramp up rich and sophisticated games that are still the domain of the DS and PSP.

Link: Onxo - Dear Game Developers

Hulu's developing an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch

Hulu's developing an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. This is according to Business Insider.

This is more concrete than rumors because of what we're seeing being approved by Apple for the app store. Granted, the Sling Player has seen the light of day (word in the street, ah, blog world is ATT is rejecting on Apple’s behalf), but this Hulu app should be even better than the Sling Player.

CBS’s TV.com app debuted a few weeks ago. Short review: better than nothing. It’s got a way to go but I’ll wager that Hulu app should be better. There are a few more apps like TVU and Joost but programming on Hulu is second to none.

This is a great end of the week. Now, my fellow mobile Apple users, keep in mind. Just because they build it doesn’t meant we’ll get it. To this day, no one understands Apple’s app approval process. Sling submitted their app around the same time Skype did theirs and Skype was approved within days. I’m betting Sling will get their app rejected and that really puts a dampener on any Hulu app.

We’ll know in a couple of months.

Via Business Insider

Note: Will we see a Boxee app soon?

Onxo: Zune Not Dead

Engadget has given us a late Friday excitement by way of a potential update to Zune.  We've always believed that Microsoft wouldn't just abandon Zune and relegate it to an app to simply sit on top of Windows Mobile 7.

Zune Touch?  Perhaps but we'll let you be the judge of that.

Well, it looks like it's time for some analysis and speculation as to what Redmond may be trying to pull here.  Please visit Onxo for updates.

Then come back to On Apple later this weekend and read up on how this may impact our believed mobile platform from Apple.