Netflix: Getting App Right For iPhone Very Important

I think thousands of iPhone users who also subscribe to Netlifx are eagerly waiting for Netflix to release an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

As the article from 9-To-5-Mac showed, it will not be so easy. The iPad version was ported to work on the iPhone. Furthermore, you will need a jail-broken iPhone to use it. Given the result, you probably wouldn't want to just yet. At the very least, not with this version.

The iPhoned Netflix app took 25% of the battery life after 15 minutes of viewing, took a lot time to process, and it crashed quite often.

It can inferred perhaps that is why there is no ABC video app for the iPhone either. It will take some work to make it happen. So for conspiracy theorists, sorry to say that Apple is not keeping such apps from us.

I would rather have Netflix, Disney, and others take their time to optimize their apps for the non-iPad devices. And I don't think we will have to wait long with the timing of the next updated iPhone release and iPhone 4 availability.

I can't say with any certainty but I think given the possibility of the new A4 chip (currently used in the iPad), with its processing power and graphics core as well as the unmatched efficiency, powering the next crop of iDevices, apps like Netflix should wok just fine.

We shall have to see. I am curious how the app will work on the 3G and 3GS models. Slingplayer works well enough even on older 2G iPhones, so I think it might be a matter of optimizing the next generation of video-streaming apps for this purpose.

We are less than two weeks from Steve Jobs' keynote at WWDC. We'll know soon enough.

9 To 5 Mac

-- Post From My iPad

Skype Now Makes Calls Over 3G for iPad And iPhone

Skype just released an update allowing the iDevices running the iPhone OS to make calls overe 3G.

I just tried it with the iPad over WiFi and 3G. I also tried with the iPhone over WiFi.

For the time, I think I am happy with this ability. The quality was par but if you move around with the iPad, the quality degrades for so reason.

I hope Skype will make some adjustments for the 3G calls. I know a lot of people who are counting on Apple and Skype to pry them from the clutches of the wireless providers.


-- Post From My iPad

Apple Can Allow Multiple App Stores

Do I want just about any app on the iPhone or my iPad? Well, sure. Maybe not any app but I would not mind the freedom should the desire arises. No, I'm not talking about porn. But...for those who do, I think I have a solution for Apple.

Two separate and distinct app stores. And I am not speaking of sanctioning Cydia or any of the jail-broken options. Even I would not go there unless I absolutely have to. And Cydia is sitting on my homepage even now.

So, what is this guy talking about, you ask? Simple. One app store will exist just as it is now. On top of that, there will be a second app store with everything else. For the sake of this post, let's called the current store as we know it as iTunes App Store or iAS. The second store will be called freedom App Store or fAS.

iAS will simply operate in ways as we have come to know it. Approval processes and all. Essentially, trusted but restricted.

Then there is fAS. Here, any app that isn't going to get Apple's approval or has been rejected can go here. Apple will continue to take 30% of all revenue in this store. After all, Apple is still providing a place for these apps to be uploaded by developers and downloaded by adventurous users. Apple can even ask for greater than 30% to dissuade some apps from even the fAS. Let's say 50%.

Why a higher percentage? Security. Spam. All that bad things that's bound to sneak into the fAd.

This would go a long way in appeasing critics and users.

And the responsibility of what gets installed on the iDevices will fall on the user as it is now. Apple will stipulate it as such. And since parents are users, it falls to them to police what their kids see or install.

Of course, this new app store will not be installed as a default app. It will be the user, after agreeing to all the risks and taking full responsibility for his or her action, to install the fAS

This still might not be enough for some critics but you can satisfy bloggers, tech pundits, and journalists who today, are increasingly relying on clicks to hear their bread. However, it will dispel the argument that Apple isn't open.

This will be a great boom for developers. They will receive specially badgets from Apple that is recognizable by users as special Apple approved App Store partners. Think of it as a sort of a better business bureau thing.

Of course, at the end of the day, such a scheme or one similar might be nice to have but totally unnecessary. The criticisms are quite loud. They need to be. But users, by the millions, doing care that they can't have Flash or Google Voice in their iPhones or iPads so much.

-- Post From My iPad

Firefox Home: Firefox But Only Like Safari

We're not likely going to see Firefox on the iDevices though it does seem more likely after the entry of Opera into the app store. However, I wouldn't quite count on it. I think it was done at a time when there is a lot of attention and negative press directed (in some ways, I think rightfully) at Apple's App Store policies.

Fear not. Mozilla will represent. Firefox Home. Mozilla is putting the final finishings on the app that allows the user to sync history and bookmarks across the various platforms supported by Firefox.

However, don't look for the familiar feel of Firefox on the Mac or the PC. As a matter of fact, it won't be the Gecko engine at all. Perhaps, Mozilla might be able to make the appearance look like Firefox but, in order not to run afoul of Apple's approval process, it will be based on Webkit, the underlying browser engine that powers Safari on the iDevices, OS X and Windows, as well as Chrome from Google.

Is this a smart move by Mozilla? I think Mozilla should have approached Apple about bringing Firefox in a manner that would be acceptable to Apple. Things change and perhaps one day, Apple will be more open at some point.

For now, we eager await Firefox Home. Essentially, it will be another browser app that offers Firefox users the ability to use their iDevices in sync with Firefox on OS X or the PC.

I don't anticipate Firefox Home to encounter any difficulties navigating through the approval minefield. Perhaps, the come has come for Google to see if they can get Chrome onto the iDevices. I would love to see the Chrome store in my iPad.

More at Macrumors.


-- Post From My iPad

Follow Me As I Try To Learn To Write An App

With anywhere from $6 to $9 billion in app revenue by 2014, depending on who you choose to believe, I think here's a small piece of action for me right?

I think so. Even it's a couple of bucks, there are a couple people will just buy any app just to test it out. Maybe I'll give it out for free and then collect revenues from the ads.

I am pretty sure I'll give the iPhone market a try first given how much Steve Jobs has hyped iAd if I plan on going about the free app route.

Plus, Apple just announced today a new program for indie authors to submit books to the iBooks store.

As a matter of fact, I just just mention this in a post at On Apple.

I will be tweeting and updating my progress. I hope you will also consider giving writing apps a try as well. Whether it'll be for the iPhone, Android, or another platform, there is certainly plenty of opportunity for a create soul to make some extra money.


-- Post From My iPad

Apple Launches Are Festivities and Story Time

Frenzy is not the word I'd to describe the mobs that have sprung up from all over the countries that are part of the first of many wave of iPad launches.  That would be an understatement and a wrong depiction.

I'd say it's more of a block party.  For international readers, think of it as festivities that spontaneously take place out of nowhere without planning.  Certainly, outside of plans by Apple to offer coffee and donuts (well, we were given donuts, not sure what they gave in Japan), no one asked that the crowd show up.

No one said we should call the media and have them do live broadcasts of launches. 

But it happens anyway.  Why is that?  I honestly can't say.  I think society has changed in such a way that we treat our gadgets as "man's best friend" (or "a woman's best friend").  They allow people to do things they could not previously.  SMS was a huge advancement in social exchange but the iPhone really revolutionized how we consume information.

Not only that, it allows the user to exploit the information consumed.  What do you think those apps are for?  Just games?  No  The iDevices now allow society to be more mobile, creative, and savy in ways 

And that's why people are excited about Apple products. It wasn't Blackberries or Palms or Windows Mobile phones that did it.  Certainly not Nokia.

Sure those products were around before the iPhone and now the iPad but Apple made it possible for the rest of us to do all those things.  And more than that, Apple made took the ease of use to a level unmatched even to this day.  

Essentially, while Apple products even as far back as the iPod made it cool to have, Apple also made it cool to use.  

Of course, as with any brand, there is always the fear of overextending it.  However, I am sure that Apple is well aware of that.  Branding for Steve Jobs is just as much a part of selling iPhones and Macs.  Like many have said time and time again, it's also about telling stories about Apple products.

So long as they remain compelling stories, I don't see why people won't come back and back again to Apple.

Every time Apple has a press event, unveils a new product, or hosts a grand opening for a new Apple store, fans and non-fans flock to the nearest live blog or location to be a part of it.  There is something special about it.  Magical as Steve Jobs aptly put it.

So, Apple made it cool to in this manner too.  Hanging out with people who love mobile tech, who like to exchange stories, and just have fun in general.

iWeb Needs iAd Integration And Mobile Tools

I have wondered why Apple included iWeb as a part of the iLife too. I understand that it's a part of iLife and MobileMe integration but it's not all that useful as a tool beyond personal use.

In the beginning, I used it to put up videos and pictures of my family and friends and to share them. Then later, Apple offered the ability to use a number of features that one might think iWeb can be used for business purposes too.

iWeb allows Adsense integration, HTML input, ability to set up your own domain name, and to publish podcasts. These are not features to be used for someone who just wants to share news, videos, and pictures with friends.

So where can Apple take iWeb next? Well, I am hoping two features be added. See, these days, its about apps and mobile. What do I want Apple to include in the next iWeb update?

First, I love to see Apple give us iAd integration but still keep Adense as well. Apple went through all three trouble to innovate ads, it might as well compete with Google on the desktop and mobile ads for the Web.

Second, I like to see a one-click publish to turn a website into a mobile version for the iPhone. I think with all the emphasis on mobile, it is a must have feature for iLife. It would be a killer feature that no other software is capable of.

Lastly, and this feature I want doesn't have to be limited to iWeb. But for those of us who aren't programmers, a feature to turn a website into an app. And if possible, include it with Bentos.

Should Apple want to dominate the mobile domain, this app feature would go a long way in showing the market just how easy it is to create apps for the iPhone platform.

And while I am dreaming, maybe Apple can allow users the ability to publish a doc to epub format to be used with iBooks. Heck, make easier for people to publish their own ebookd.

Am I asking too much? I don't think so. I think everything I've brought up here are within Apple's power to grant. If I can think it up, I am sure smarter folks at Apple have as well. It is a matter of whether it is within Apple's interests to make it happen. If it makes sense for Apple, to quote a famous Starfleet captain, to "make it so".


-- Post From My iPad