Sour Taste Regarding Demise of iWeb

I am an iWeb user for my personal site, Greenjava, and the demise of it was confirmed last night when a user e-mailed Steve Jobs about it  When asked if he should look else where to host his website by the user, Jobs answered in his usual manner.  

Just a month ago, I took an Apple solicited survey on iLife and it directed me towards iWeb.  It was an exhaustive survey that gave me hope regarding Apple's plans for it in the future even as most blogs were already saying how it was already dead.

Keep in mind that iWeb is not Apple's first time getting into the web development market.  Remember Home Page from Claris before it became just Filemaker Inc?  Years later, iWeb was an unexpected surprise.  

And now without iWeb, that is Apple really saying?  After all, Apple fought a very public Flash war with Adobe and seemed to have won.  It's main weapon was HTML 5 and how it was better and friendlier for the Web.  

Without iWeb or any other tool, Apple leaves users without an easy mean to develop for it.  Even when faced with the reality of iWeb and hosting coming to an end, I cannot believe that Apple is simply leaving creation of a personal page on the Web to the likes of Facebook and Twitter.  

Who Will Be Next To Get The iPhone? I Am Rooting For Sprint But Hope Every Carrier Get It This Fall

We know that Apple will be adding a new carrier or two in the US soon.  The candidates are obvious and if it's both, well then the argument is pretty much settled.  We're talking about Sprint and T-Mobile.  

But what if Apple decides to go with only one?  Should it be Sprint or T-Mobile?  

Before I get into it, I want to say that I have been a happy T-Mobile subscriber for 8 years.  Had been.  Their latest moves regarding "unlimited" data reminds me of the early days of evilness that AT&T went through to quantify what "unlimited" means.  It's false advertising and obviously, no one is doing anything about it.  

So, I'm gonna say that if Apple wants to add only one more network this fall, then it should be Sprint.  And I would happy go switch over.  And I know, chances are that Apple will only support CDMA on Sprint rather than WiMax.  But that's okay.  I'm fine with that.  

However, if T-Mobile does end up getting it, I'm gonna feel bad for Sprint but I won't get too upset over it.  For now, T-Mobile is still T-Mobile and it's not AT&T…yet.

Now, what about other carriers?  Metro PCS or Virgin Mobile?  My good friend, Dave the Mobile Sage, has an Android phone running on VM's network costing him $25 a month.  Yeah, I would consider that in heart beat if I can get an iPhone with them.  The $25 plan includes true unlimited data access just like Sprint.

Supposedly, we're getting new iPhones this fall, probably September.  Again, as a mobile fan, I hope Apple spreads the iPhone love to all carriers in the US – even the second tier or regional ones.  It is time.

Apple's Messy Messaging And Video Apps

There's iChat from years go.  As it flounders, we gained Facetime last year.  Facetime was Wi-Fi only but that might change depending whether a carrier allows Facetime chat over 3G. And now, we've got iMessage coming to iOS 5 only.  And three apps don't work with each other.  

This post from The iPhone Blog summarizes the situation well.  For me, I think the best way to solve the situation is to allow iChat take over Facetime and iMessage duties on the Mac.  On the iOS side, Apple should integrate Facetime into iMessage for simplicity sake and to eliminate an extra and unnecessary icon.

More Sophisticated Voice Control Coming To iOS 5

One of the wildest rumors ahead of the WWDC last week was Apple incorporating more sophisticated voice control and a more buff Siri in iOS 5.  Well, as you know by now, we saw nothing about that from Apple.  While it was a fun rumor, it was just a rumor.  Until now.  Appleinsider is reporting a couple of screen shots showing new voice control tucked away in the developer release of iOS 5.  

It shows a important feature called "Mic on space key" which presumably means users can dictate to the iOS devices instead of typing the words out.  This evidence is important because right now, Google has put Android way ahead of Apple with much more sophisticated voice control features.  Even if the final version of iOS 5 does ship with some voice and dictation features, I don't expect anything revolutionary at this point.  

Also, we still have no evidence that Siri, which Apple bought last year, has been improved upon.  I had hoped that Siri would be a system wide integration with iOS 5.  Right now, I'd settle for even marginal upgrades.  

More at Appleinsider.

Apple Should See The iPod Touch As Serious Mobile Device, Maybe Even More So Than the iPhone

I have the iPod touch as you know and from an earlier post regarding its battery, you can probably tell that I use my touch as one of my main mobile device.  It's an valued part of my mobile workflow.  I almost leave home without it. At times, I cannot help but think that Apple is using the iPod touch as a way to introduce people to the iPhone, especially for those who cannot afford a two-year commitment that is required to own an iPhone.  And for kids in school, the touch is a great way to get them ready for the iPhone someday.  

Instead of seeing the iPod touch as a device to help Apple up sell users to the iPhone, I think Cupertino needs to reevaluate this and perhaps give the iPod touch just as much innovative and marketing attention as the iPhone.  

With the introduction of the fourth generation iPod touch with Facetime camera running iOS 4, this touch has has true become a mobile device with a lot of productive power.  Yes, it is missing 3G wireless access but it more than makes up for not having the need for the user to sign up for a two-year contract.  At the same time, it has the clear Retina display the iPhone 4 has and has similar specs on the inside as well.  In a Wi-Fi environment, the touch loses nothing to the iPhone.  

In fact, this is what I think Apple should do.  As with its back-to-school deal that gives each student a free iPod touch with the purchase of a Mac, Apple should expand this to everyone.  Apple should offer this to enterprise customers as well as individuals.  

iPod Touch Battery Life: 75 Min Skype Video Call; Apple Should Find A Way To Make Battery Life Even Better for 2012 Version

I spent all morning talking to an online friend on the other side of the world on Skype since about 7am this morning.  It was a Skype video chat lasted about 75 minutes which forty minutes in got disconnected but I quickly dialed back.  As you know by now, I'm obsessed with battery life.  How power did this call chew up?  40%?  50%?  

At the start of the call, I had read a little bit on iBooks and made a few queries about today's weather and the movie times for Super 8 on Siri.  In all, I had been using the iPod touch for about 30 minutes before making the Skype calls.  

In all, the call took about 33% of battery life.  

Is that good?  Well, it's better than I expected.  At the end of the call, I expected to see the battery indicator closer to midpoint of the icon than the  two-third point by my estimation.  

The reason I am sharing this is because I do have a full day until 5PM PST when Game 6 of the 2011 NBA Finals start.  Until I can safely get home with the iPod touch plugged into a socket, I reckon it should hold me over through the rest of the morning and the afternoon where two hours of time, I'll be watching Super 8. 

My iPod touch is the fourth generation model.  This is by far the fastest and most powerful non-phone mobile device on the market, Apple really has not done much to improve its battery life.  Given its thin form factor, Apple has done a great job even squeezing out the battery life out of the touch.  Impressed as I am, I cannot help but think that had Apple given the touch an extra millimeter or two, adding an extra half ounce to its weight, it might give us an extra fifteen to twenty percent more battery life.  

On Apple website, the iPod touch is rated at 40 hours of music playback and 7 hours of video.  The iPhone 4 has the same 40 hours of music playback and is capable of playing 10 hours of video on one charge.  Apple also states the iPhone 4 can provide up to 10 hours of Internet use on Wi-Fi.  Though no information is provide regarding the touch's battery life under Internet use, we can safely that it is nowhere near 10 hours.  I would say that it is 7 hours at best.

On top of that, I normally do not sit there in silence.  Even now, I am listening to a podcast and before, that, I was streaming Science Friday from NPR.  With such an use combination, it's likely I will would have likely achieve closer to 5 to 6 hours of battery life.  

I consider this decent for a device this small and light.  For a non-phone device, I think nothing comes close to what Apple has achieved with the iPod touch.  However, I hope Apple seriously bump up the battery life on the next touch update.  We are increasingly relying upon our mobile devices and smartphones for our daily computing and social needs.  

Be it Apple, Samsung, or Google, these tech companies need to realize that our mobile habits have changed greatly even from a year ago.  What constitutes heavy versus moderate use has to change.

Note: Even though iPhone's 6 hours of Internet use over 3G is pretty good, I would like to see Apple really bump that up to 10 hours somehow. 

iMessage Versus Everyone Else; Developers Has To Evolve Or Become A Wiki Has-Been

One of the best examples of survival of the fittest, evolutionary pressure, or natural selection can be seen in how the mobile market is evolving. And with the introduction of iMessage in iOS 5, due this fall, we are seeing a lot of changes, or talk of changes in SMS, and how others like RIM's messaging implementation will be affected.

iMessage is already being herald as a winner. In the past couple of weeks, I have tried a few multi-platform messaging apps that served well enough. However, as with anything Apple, they can encroach at any moment into an field or function, that apps served, not previously available in its OS.

Developers of Whatsapp, Kik, KakaoTalk, and probably a couple of dozens others face a difficult choice this fall. Innovate or attempt to survive on other mobile platforms and leave iOS mostly to iMessage.

Like I've mentioned before regarding iCloud's impact on other cloud storage solutions, incumbents like Dropbox can see a silver lining in this. Apple competition does not necessarily mean the end of the world. There are positive examples of how Apple helped competitors.

• Just like the iPhone brought a lot of attention to smartphones.
• iTunes made it okay to download music.
• iOS-based Apple TV has been great business for Roku.
• iPad has developed a whole new mobile computing market that Microsoft previously failed to ignite on fire.  While sales of non-iPad competitors haven't caught on, it is only a matter of time before Android, Web OS, Playbook, and even Windows 8 begin to serve as strong alternatives to Apple's tablet offerings.

I am sure there are a couple of other examples. I reckon iMessage will force many innovate. And innovate goes both ways, doesn't it? Apple has a history of developing a great app only to allow it to languish. Sometimes, they come up with an incredible update such as Final Cut or allow it to due a quiet death (I am beginning to think iWeb and Ping will go down the latter path).

What of Blackberry Messaging, BBM? Word on the blog street is that RIM will release an app for both Android and iOS. And WSJ reports that Google is working on their own multi-platform messaging app or reinventing gTalk to compete.

So, I think messaging platforms will benefit from the attention that iMessage is going to bring. Instant messaging could also get a second wind as a result.

Everyone wins right? Wrong. iMessage, BBM, Google's offering, and the other messaging apps as a whole will put a big dent into the SMS growth - a cash cow for the wireless cartels across the world.

I don't have to tell you just what a rip-off SMS is. And I am safely in the majority as far as this opinion goes. While analysts do not see a sudden torrential shift in the messaging market, I think they are wrong. Dead wrong.

I predict a huge drop in the next 12-18 months as the revenue from texting takes a big hit. Just like the app developers threatened by iMessage, the wireless industry across the world will need to change. Somehow, I don't see that happening. Maybe a few can move and innovate quickly enough but most will wake up one day and wonder just where their steady and reliable billions in SMS profit went.

iMessage is both good for the wireless industry and great for mobile warriors regardless of whatever mobile platform your smartphone runs on.