thomas fitzgerald.net

From Wired:

Instead of happily tapping their touch screens, many iPhone users are using their fingers to point accusingly at Apple — and the developers of iPhone applications.

I’ve experienced alot of this since installing the new os on the phone. The Apps crashing is one thing but the phone unceremoniously rebooting is a complete pain, and considering Apple’s rhetoric about other smart phones and mobile systems and avoiding that kind of thing, it’s a little ironic.
[Read Bugs Abound in iPhone 2.0 Operating System, Apps | Gadget Lab from Wired.com]

I contacted one of the developers of iPhone games and they very kindly responded (no word from Apple) that there is an issue with the Irish App store and that Apple have been aware of the problem since Thursday. I guess with all the other problems with the iPhone 3g launch this might be a low priority for them, but hopefully it will be resolved soon.

To say the upgrade to iPhone 2.0 has been rocky is putting it mildly. First of All there was the whole “grab the pre-release” software fiasco which I stupidly went and did (entirely my own fault) Then we were told (by more faceless internet nerds) that this was the wrong one and had to do it again. So now I don’t know whether I’m running the correct version or not. Internet says I am. On top of that, and you’ll love this, when I restored my iPhone the second time it did a back up of everything first and then restored it all correctly. However, when I then synched for the first time, any Application I had purchased on the iPhone got wiped, leaving only those I had bought on iTunes.

Also, when upgrading the phone in the first place it wiped all my music. I had been manually managing music so this was a bit of a pain, but I put it down to the upgrade process. However, when I upgraded my iPod touch it put all the music back. Go figure? I suppose it could be due to getting the firmware direct from Apple’s servers but I don’t think so.

And then there’s the applications. Apart form games being MIA on the Irish App store (and several other countries, apparently) the stability of the phone when running Apps has been less than stellar. Both Apple’s own remote app and net news wire mobile have both caused my iPhone to unceremoniously reboot itself. I guess it’s a real smart phone now. Also, battery life has plummeted, which I suspect might have something to do with mobileme. I have push turned off to see if it makes a difference. It has also been using a tremendous amount of data over edge since upgrading. Normally I use less than a 100mb a month but I’ve downloaded over 80 since friday. This wouldn’t be an issue if I was in the US or UK, but thanks to O2 Ireland’s wonderful 1gig data limit I’d shoot through that in about 10 days. So for now Push is off.

If all that wasn’t enough, today O2’s edge network disappeared off the face of the earth. And just when I was out and needed to look something up too. At first I thought it was another 2.0 related bug, but it seems as though they are having network problems. Their website disappeared for several hours today too. Since upgrading my AppleTV to 2.1 it’s been crash happy too and they still haven’t resolved that wonderful apple logo of death when connected to a hdmi switcher (except now instead of an Apple logo you get a black screen) Combined with the 3g launch and the mobileme rollout, not a good weekend to be an Apple customer.

[UPDATE] I did a complete charge/discharge cycle and the battery life seems to be ok now. Also, I think I was wrong about the amount of data usage. I may not have reset the stats when I upgraded so that could have been for the whole life of my phone. Ooops, sorry about that. I have push back on since yesterday and it’s reported 1.2mb which is a bit more reasonable.

Irish iPhone and iPod touch owners visiting the recently launched App store are a little perplexed about the complete lack of any games. Going to the Games section on the iPhone results in a completely blank page while the App store home screen in iTunes makes no mention of any games what so ever, apart from a similarly empty section in the categories list. Compare this to the App store in virtually every other country, all of which offer a similar lineup of games for Apple’s new mobile platform.

One would hope this is simply teething problems with the store roll out, and given the disaster that has been the iPhone 3G launch, this is not beyond the realms of possibility. The only other reason I can think of is that Apple is awaiting ratings from the Irish censors office, as games here require age ratings like movies, but then so does the UK and their store seems fine. It has been suggested that it could be a licensing issue, but I find it hard to believe that if Croatia, Malaysia, Chile and Guatemala all have no problems with game licensing there would be an issue with licensing in Ireland. What’s more, the Irish iPhone pages on Apple’s website clearly show games, and o2 stores here are advertising super monkey ball among others on their in-store displays. Console games are generally released on the same day here as in the UK and Sony’s online Playstation Network store has pan european games releases so why can’t Apple? I have attempted to contact Apple regarding the issue but I don’t expect a response any time soon.

I hope this issue will be resolved before too long though. Ireland may be a small country, but it has the highest rate of mobile phone usage per capita in Europe and one of the highest rates of disposable income on the continent, so It would seem silly that Apple would snub such a lucrative market. The lack of any games what so ever to me suggests that it is simply a database error on the iTunes servers. Hopefully there will be an answer soon, but in the mean time, if you are an Irish customer I suggest you use the iTunes feedback form to let Apple know there’s a problem.

[UPDATE: See the latest on this issue]

Despite all the hype surrounding apples recent iPhone 3g announcement many are still confused by the lack of some of the basic features still not included in apples handset. Certainly the iPhone 2.0 software offers some great new features and with third party apps soon to be available, the iPhone will be even greater placed to revolutionise the mobile phone market. Needless to say some analysts still aren’t happy. The iPhone still appears to be missing features that almost all modern handsets feature, and while at the end of the day its not that big a deal, it is strange that after a year of development apple hasn’t implemented them.

What I’m referring to of course is the lack of ability to send and receive MMS messages and the lack of video recording. There are other things too that don’t seem to be in the 2.0 update too such as Bluetooth support for anything other than headsets, the seeming inability to send contacts to another phone and the inability to use your iPhone as a modem. To me personally none of these things are a big issue but for some people they are. Not only that but many normal non technical people just assume that these features are in the iPhone and can’t understand why they’re no when they can’t find them. The default apple fanboy response is “if you don’t like it don’t buy it” which I suppose is fair enough but it is strange that at least some of these didn’t make it to iPhone 2.0

When the phone first shipped it was assumed that what many would consider pretty standard features were just left out because of time constraints, but since then you would have imagined at least some would make it into the next version. Take MMS for example. There is the argument is that email is a better way to send pictures anyway, which is all well and good, but many phones don’t have email and many people still send pictures straight from their phone which the iPhone can’t receive leading you to have to go through a complicated retrieval process on your carriers website. The jailbreak hacking community managed to create an MMS application fairly early in the iPhones life so why can’t Apple? The question is has the company simply not gotten around to it yet or are they making a point? Either way it’s strange.

Of course the final version of the iPhone 2.0 software won’t be known until it hits the streets as it were, so it’s possible some of these things might still make it into the final release. It’s also possible that third parties may be able to address some of these things but it would be nice if they were part of the phone as standard. Of course criticizing Apple decisions on the web is a risky proposition at the best of times but before you get your virtual pitchforks out I’m not complaining, I’m just curious to know what their reasoning is for leaving out features that would seem, given the numerous demos of how quick it is to write software for the iPhone, to be easy enough to implement.

Incidentally I wrote this while post on my iPhone in the notes app.

I was scrolling through various news feeds on my RSS reader this morning and reading lots of speculation about Mondays WWDC keynote when I realized something about how I regard my own iPhone. I no longer see it as a phone. In fact, It’s hard to pin down what exactly it is, but from a purely emotional point of view, I no longer see it as a phone, or an ipod but as something else…I suppose as an iPhone. And in part I suspect that’s why it has been so successful, because it has moved past existing paradigms and created it’s own unique category for itself.

People will argue that it’s just another smart phone, but I’ve had smart phones before, and all of them frustrated me to the point that I wanted to throw them off the balcony. Their “smart” features weren’t that smart and the phone side of them are in general pretty atrocious. But with the iPhone, I don’t feel like I’m using a phone at all. Instead I have this device that gives me a permanent connection to the larger world. It’s a small black and silver slab that connects me to cyberspace wherever I am and I am always linked to the immediacy of breaking news, information I need, train times, current weather or whatever else is happening around the globe. It’s a powerful feeling that becomes part of everyday life because unlike other smart phones which also have internet access, it’s so easy to use, you just use it without thinking about it. We’ve always read in science fiction about the connected world, about how everyone will be part of a great network, but with the iPhone Apple made it happen, and in such a seamless way, that most people don’t realize the future is already here.

A great article from Mac Net Journal about using the iPhone in a real world work situation and can be summed up thusly:

In this case, the iPhone was the best tool for the job, and it was not just about doing things that the iPhone really excells at - like checking the weather or mapping the route from point A to point B in an unfamiliar area. This was about actually creating content, doing real work with a tool that works best as an interface to entertainment.

[Read Working with an iPhone in the real world]

From Macworld:

AT&T says that it is on track to complete its 3G mobile broadband network by the end of June.

Hmm, now what could that timing possibly correspond with? Anyone?
[Read AT&T to complete 3G network by next month]

From Macworld UK:

When Apple ships its iPhone 2.0 update - and the accompanying App Store for distributing third-party software for the phone - you won’t have to wait too long for native iPhone apps built by Google programmers. “We expect to have applications at Day One,” said Vic Gundotra, Google’s vice president of engineering.

[Read Google has native iPhone apps ready]

From Macworld:

O2 CEO Matthew Key confirmed that the cellular provider will make an iPhone-related announcement in conjunction with Apple “in the coming weeks.”

File under: “Duh”
[Read O2 confirms new iPhone ‘in weeks’]

From Amazon’s Blog of all places. Interesting list though. I have jailbroken my iPod touch, but I’m reluctant to touch my iPhone what with June just around the corner. Still, there’s some pretty neat stuff out there already, and it’s not clear if some of these things will even be possible with the SDK.

From Ars Technica:

Vodafone announced this morning that it would offer the iPhone in ten markets worldwide—the largest single iPhone rollout yet (well, assuming they all launch at the same time).

What’s interesting about this is that Telecom Italia have also stated that they plan to carry the iPhone adding further weight to the rumors that Apple is abandoning it’s single exclusive carrier model.
[Read Vodafone, Telecom Italia announce massive iPhone rollout]
[Related: What Happens if Apple Sells iPhone Unlocked?]

There has been this rumor floating around for the past couple of months that Apple is planning to sell off its Pro Apps devision, namely Final Cut studio and Aperture. The rumor was dying down but then Robert Cringly over at PBS posted a fanciful story that Apple was planning to sell its pro apps so it could buy Adobe. Of course the idea that they need to ditch their own Applications to make way for Adobe’s is completely ridiculous. It’s doubtful if Apple could afford to buy Adobe even if it wanted to, and Apple’s competing Apps are, for the most part better than the Adobe Counterparts. Having said that I do think here could be benefits for both consumers and Apple if they did buy Adobe (putting an end to Adobe’s insane overseas pricing would be one benefit). I consider it unlikely but not totally beyond the realms of possibility. What is completely beyond the realms of possibility though is the idea that Apple plans to sell off its pro apps.

This all started when Apple announced that they weren’t going to be exhibiting at NAB this year. This sparked immediate and rampant speculation as to their motives. As I work in the Television post production Industry I have first hand experience of it. After the announcement I was having discussions with some of the people I know who work in the industry and the first chicken little reaction was that they must be planning to ditch Final Cut Pro so they can focus on the iPhone. (The iPhone pretty much gets the blame for everything these days) Of course it’s complete nonsense as they are two completely separate and independent devisions within Apple. Anyway, I’m sure discussions like this were being held by post production professionals across the globe. That in itself would have been enough to start the ball rolling, but then take those same professionals, and have them all congregate in Las Vegas under the one roof for a week and rampant speculation quickly becomes a rumor. All it takes is one person in that situation to make the jump from “I wonder are Apple selling off their pro apps” to “I heard that Apple are selling off their Pro Apps” in a hot convention center with several thousand video nerds and you have an instant scandal.

Such was the furor over this that Apple came out and firmly denied that this was to be the case. Mind you that didn’t stop Robert Cringly publishing his piece and multiple sites picking up his speculation and translating it to potential fact. This isn’t the first time this kind of water cooler chatter got out of hand about Apple either. Thanks to a wonderfully bad piece of attempted journalism by the now dead Think Secret, people had pronounced Aperture end of life and there were “rumors” that Apple was going to kill the project. Anyway, you can rest assured that with Final Cut pro’s 44% market share it’s not going to happen.

So why weren’t they at NAB this year and why has there been no major Final Cut updates considering they usually release a relatively big upgrade at NAB every year? I have a pretty good idea as to what’s going on, and the inspiration came, ironically enough from Adobe. When they made their stark warning at Photoshop World recently that they would need to migrate Photoshop’s code from carbon to cocoa in order to take the application to 64bit I realized that Apple was faced with the same dilemma. Final Cut Pro started out as an OS9 Application and has been building on that legacy code ever since. It’s actually pretty inefficient by todays standards too (for example it barely uses multiple processors), and it was only a matter of time before they would have to do a major re-write. Why now though you ask? Well, there is a growing trend in the high end of the industry towards 2K and 4K post production. This is basically even higher resolution than high definition and is used for cinema post production. Cameras like the Red One are pushing this way of working forward into the mainstream and because of the huge file sizes involved I suspect than in order to work efficiently Apple needs to go 64bit with Final Cut Pro.

The reason the weren’t at NAB was simply that they didn’t have anything to show this year. Their main competitor, Avid, was not there and it costs a lot of money to have a space as large as Apple’s usual booth so why waste the money when you’ve got nothing to show. From what I’ve heard from people at the show they might as well have been there anyway considering the amount of other booths showing Final Cut or using Apple technology.

So the upshot of all this is that there is no great conspiracy in action here. Apple is not selling their Pro Applications. Final Cut is not going away. the sky is not falling and the iPhone is not the root of all evil. Rest assured that if they are re-writing Final Cut the end result will be even better than ever. And still way better than Premiere.

[update: Added link to Apple’s denial of the rumors]

[UPDATE: Fixed Broken Links]

Amazing the difference £110 can make.

According to Macworld UK….

Carphone Warehouse is now out of stock of 16GB iPhones, following the fast sell-out of 8GB models of the device last week.

Both Carphone Warehouse and O2 have also sold out of the 8GB iPhone, following their application of a £100 discount on the device last month.

Also interesting is the fact that Neither Carphone Warehouse or O2 Plan on re-stocking ahead of the “rumored” launch of the 3G iPhone