Apple Crossed The Line With Google Voice Apps And Will Continue To Do So

More and more, I believe Apple's dealings with apps that enable iPhone users to use Google Voice has some things to do with ATT but also something to do with some bad blood created by the threat Android is increasingly becoming to the iPhone and Chome OS' challenge to the status quo in the OS market.

Caught in the middle are developers.

Macworld posted an article about just this matter.  Kevin Duerr in his blog vented his anger over how Apple had treated his app first by pulling it from the app store, then refusing to offer him an explanation for the action, and creating a refund nightmare for him.

And he's right.  The refund was not due to a flaw in the app but Apple's unexplainable reason for pulling it from the app store.  And some users do want their money back since Duerr will no longer be able to provide support and updates.

The app, VoiceCentral had gone on sale in April and it was only when apps for the Blackberries and Android phones became available did Apple started acting this way.  Oh, yeah, Apple also rejected Google's official Google Voice app.

Duerr, like everyone else, believes ATT is to blame here.  ATT simply doesn't have to capacity to handle all the iPhones in the market.  For the most part, I have to agree but Apple cannot be happy with Android and Chrome OS as competition.

I'm sure Apple had a message to send Google as well.  Maybe.  I don't know with any certainty.  There are a lot of theories flying around the Internet.

Apps are either rejected for indecency or for duplicating an existing function on the iPhone.  Frankly, I don't see anything that VoiceCentral or Google Voice app has done to duplicate iPhone functions that existing apps haven't already done.

Let's examine it a bit here with some app examples.

• Skype.  Okay.  It makes calls over Wi-Fi but it duplicates the iPhone's telephony function.
• Fring.  Same as Skype.
• Yahoo Messenger.  AIM.  Other IM applications.  The iPhone doesn't have an IM app but it does have a SMS application.  If users are sending instant messages instead of SMS, when ATT is out of a revenue stream.

Those quickly comes to mind.  But there are others.  Suppose Apple starts streaming music through the iPod.  What happens to all the radio apps?  Right now, everyone is watching one app in particular.

Spotify.  Since it started streaming music to users (including myself), it has been considered as a competitor to iTunes.  Everyone is watching and waiting to see what Apple will do.  Now, some bloggers believe, given the bad press now with GV apps, Apple will think twice about a rejection.  Folks, if you believe that, you don't know Steve Jobs.  

However, for you mobile warriors with a legal background, what do you think?  A few more examples of rejections due to apps duplicating functions on the iPhone, can an anti-trust case be made?

This is not a subject I like writing about but Apple is wrong here.  I had hoped that Apple will evolve more liberally with app store policies over time.  It's been more than a year.  The app store has been wildly successful.  Millions of iPhones sold.  Still, nothing has changed.

Source:  Macworld, Duerr's Blog

Note:  If you want a Spotify account, which I highly recommend, visit Onxo for instructions.  It is not yet widely available.

Another Note:  Jailbreak, jailbreak, jailbreak, baby!

iTablet:

So, we don't know with certainty that the iTablet will be forthcoming but by all indications, it is.  If not for the sake of satisfying the mobile market, it is an evolutionary step in mobile computing.

But Macinstein doesn't think the iTablet would be a great mobile device at all.  It even goes as far as to say it's ruse created by Apple to make its competitors like Dell waste millions in research and development on something that will not work.

Well, if this tablet was coming from Dell, Acer, or Asus, I would agree.  But hey, this is Steve Jobs we're talking about.  Let's not forget that.  The iTablet will be coming from the folks who brought us OS X, Macbooks, iPods, and the iPhones.

For all the shortcoming mentioned in the post, it makes sense that Apple's brilliant designers and engineers would have thought everything through and patent the heck out of it to make sure it works. If it doesn't, trust me on this, Apple will not come out with a tablet.

So, no, it wouldn't just be a double-sized iPod Touch as simply twice the price.  Okay, maybe twice the price of an iPod Touch is plausible but it'll be so much more.  There is a lot we don't know about it.  As we get closer to the release date (which I firmly believe to be early 2010), there will be a lot of hype, rumors, and sleight of hands by multiple players, but I think at the end of the day, we'll be pretty happy that we mobile fans will have another Apple gear in our mobile arsenal.

Let's just hope Apple doesn't really call it the "iTablet".

Source:  Macenstein

Push Notification Via Safari

You might know by now that Apple, with the gun to its head, was forced by ATT to pull two 3rd party Google Voice apps and to reject the official app from Google.


I don't want to get into that.  I don't agree with it and Apple had to comply.  Fine.  Perhaps this was why Google developed Android a couple of years ago.  It's why we have G1, myTouch, and HTC Hero today, all running Android OS.  


And this exactly why Google is now pushing Chrome OS and, in doing so, pushing Webapps.  


Honestly, the wireless providers' days are numbered in terms of how they can have so much dominion over us.  One day, Safari, Chrome, mobile Firefox, and mobile IE will all be able to allow webapps to work like traditional apps.


When that day comes, good luck trying to block specific websites.  Verizon Wireless or ATT would be stupid trying to tell Apple, Android developers, or Microsoft to block some sites because they don't like the competition those sites offered.  If that happens, seriously, isn't that what China does now?


The only reason ATT can get way with this is because folks aren't making the anticompetitive connection.  Regardless, I hope Google succeeds with Chrome OS because it'll benefit us iPhone users as well.  Whatever features Webkit gains, Safari will as well.


So consider if Safari offers more traditional app features, Google would still be able to offer fully working webapps as their traditional apps.  That means push notification, being able to stay connected simply by leaving Safari running.  Calls, voice mail notifications, and incoming texts would all be pushed through Safari.

FT: Forthcoming Device From Apple To Change Mobile Entertainment

As if we didn't already know given the evolutionary changes and growth of Apple's mobile gear.  But if what Financial Times is report is in fact correct in the way presented in their exciting article, mobile folks, especially Apple fans, will be extremely happy.


I have indicated in the past that Apple is likely to introduce new products in early 2010 rather than late 2009 as there is virtually no need to do so given the strength of its already robust mobile lineup.  However, I have also indicated that I love being wrong and that we'll see this new mobile device, dubbed iTablet by many in the blogworld, as a larger iPod Touch.


There have been a lot of rumors generated late last week about something from Apple but I don't want to get into that.  However, given the strength in reporting financial news, I'll give FT the benefit of the doubt (though WSJ has just a strong reputation but they have been known to be wrong in the past).  


So, what is the Financial Times report?

• Tablet-sized device for this Christmas shopping season.  I'm still thinking 2010 but I hope I'm wrong.  Still, given Apple perchance for perfection, don't be surprise of the target of late 2009 is pushed back or my early 2010 prediction is also pushed back.  Until they've got it right, Apple will not put out an half-ass device.  And yet, they know people will be buying this up in droves.  What better than a paying public willing to beta-test your product?
• Apple and music labels are working on a new product that will be perfect for the tablet.  This includes an interactive booklet for music to entice buyers into purchasing whole albums.
• Apparently, prototypes have already been seen and tested as an entertainment executive was quoted as saying "It's going to be fabulous for watching movies."
• Watch out, Amazon and Kindle!  Literary publishers are trying to get in on the tablet.  As one publishing executive put it, the Apple device is to the Kindle as a color LCD TV is to an old black and white TV.  That's gotta hurt.  Perhaps, this is why Kindle app in the iTunes app store.  
• It will be priced between $600-$1000.  I'm closing that gap a bit and day it'll be $699 and $899.  This is in line with past Apple product pricing.  Expect this price to hold for a couple of years and drop as other competitors, like Microsoft's Zune, bring their own clones to the market.

There is something that does seem a bit off.  At the end of the article, it was mentioned that movie executives were not consulted.  I don't know what that really mean but it just sort of sticks out.  

So, there you have it.  Four quarter of 2009.  There are still a lot of questions and we'll get into it later.  We'll just let this one sink in a bit before going further.  

Source:  FT.com

iPod Touch VOIP: Changes Need To Be Made To OS For It To Work

There has been some talk about the next generation iPod Touch and if some 3GS features will eventually migrate over to the Touch.  Most obvious would be the camera.  In fact, don't be surprise if the Touch has more features like HD recording.  

But the most surprising of all is the talk about a microphone included with the Touch, thus, providing a true VOIP solution.  

So the issue isn't whether the next iPod Touch will incorporate a microphone like the iPhone or users will be forced to use the headset but rather whether it is Apple's intention to position the Touch as a VOIP device as well as a music, video, and game player.  

If that is what Apple is attempting to do, regardless of its reasons (like trying to wrestle some control away from the wireless providers), there is something that Apple must enable that it has not done yet:  allow fully or partial background processing.

At the very least, there has to be parity between someone making a call using an iPhone versus someone making a VOIP call with his or her Touch.  Otherwise, the experiences would be different and cause, at best, confusion among potential buyers or worst, wholesale outcry from the community.

I can make calls now with Skype to buddies or Skypeout to anyone with a regular phone number.  However, unlike calling on an iPhone, I can't continue to call on Skype if I also want to go into Safari to look up information.  Once I press the home button, the Skype app quits and prematurely hangs up the call.  And as you well know, a call on the iPhone allows you to stay connected while you perform other tasks like taking notes or using Safari (though I've never tried playing games while chatting with someone).  

So two scenarios are likely.  Apple will open up the iPhone OS for apps (like VOIP or social apps) to run in the background or limit the number of apps that can run in the background.

The second scenario is that Apple may be developing an unique solution that works similarly to the telephone app on the iPhone to allow it to run in the background.  Perhaps it'll work with a carrier, Skype, or even Google Voice.  

Of course, there are many pros and cons to either scenario but I'm betting Apple will opt for the second one since it give it more control, not to mention, a likely stream of revenue.  

We probably will not know until iPhone 4.0 and thereafter.  Right now, it's upgrading the iPod Touch with a camera and the 3GS hardware is compelling enough to get people to buy or upgrade.  And word is that no background processing is coming until then anyway, assuming Apple will allow it at all.

Note:  If Apple does add a mic, it is one step closer to the video chat I'm hoping for.

Google Voice Addition Would Make IM Apps Even Better

For my fellow iPhone and iPod Touch mobile warriors who have been waiting patiently for an official Google Voice app, I can tell you that I love using Android's GV app as it allows me to record important calls (of course, only with permission - even with family members), send free SMS, and access everything from the app or Web.  

Would it be great if the IM apps in iTunes also support Voice?  

If you're aged, like me, during the era of IM craze, you've got an account from ICQ, gTalk, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and, now, Facebook or Myspace.  You want to stay in touch with everybody across the various chats so you likely use Adium or Trillian.  If not, you're truly missing out.  

So this morning, just as I was considering beejive with push ($9.99) because it now supports push and there's no point in waiting for Trillian's iPhone app.  And while beejive does support SMS, it doesn't provide the voice and text center that GV support.  And it doesn't even try.  That isn't the app's domain.  

So, it would make sense these apps to support GV in the long run, even as early as the next version.  It'll give folks a reason to upgrade (not to mention making extra money).

In the future, Voice might be integrated with gTalk.  In fact, I'm betting on it.  

Note:  If you don't have Google Voice already, now's the time.  Use it for your social life.  Use it for your business.  You wonder why it's taken this long.

Turning Off Plug-Ins To Extend Battery Life For Your Macbooks

I am immensely jealous that my Macbook doesn't sport one of those newer enclosed batteries.  So, while I've got decent battery life with my 8-month old unibody Macbook, I don't have insanely great battery life in the neighborhood of 7 hours (or 8 as some have claimed).

And if you're in the same boat as I am, here's a quick mobile tip I heard while I was running and listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Powerpage.

It's so obvious.  You can turn off your browser plug-ins when you're running your laptop or netbook off the battery.

I only heard it tonight so I'll give it a go tomorrow and let you know if it makes any difference.  And whether you're running Firefox or Safari makes a difference in how you manage plug-ins as well.

On top of that, make sure you use this great application to monitor your battery use.  Coconut Battery.

As you can see, it provides you with information about your MB or MBP battery.  Charges, capacity, and cycles.  The 3C that is very important to health and maintenance of your battery.

More at Onxo Tips.