June 2007 Archives

The last update we had yesterday was "starting the activation process". We wanted to post more information but we have yet to finish the activation! One iPhone activated immediately, the other will not activate.

We were unable to verify your identity using the information you provided. Please verify your information and try again.

Followed by... AT&T was unable to verify your identity using the information you provided.

Now after more than 5 hours on the phone with Apple and AT&T (mostly with Apple) we are... still out of luck.

We are in line right now. Not at the front, but close enough that we will leave here with two iPhones! Thanks to the WiFi connection at the Apple store we will remain connected to the outside world.

With the help of a pot of coffee we were able to read through the 13 page "iPhone Terms and Conditions" document located on the AT&T web site. Some of the details were more hard to swallow than that last cup of java. Here are the biggies that you should be aware of before you use your iPhone.

Additional charges for premium messages and content apply. Messages over 300KBs billed and additional 50¢/message.

Full 2 mega pixel camera images are approximately 700KB. While the iPhone will resize images before they are sent, you may want to send separate messages if you are emailing a lot of photos. It will be interesting to see if the iPhone warns the user whenever messages exceed 300KB.

I just watched the iPhone keyboard video on Apple’s site, wow. While typing with only one finger he typed 3 words in 10 seconds, or about 18 words per minute. With two fingers and I imagine some practice, they were able to pull off an impressive 17 words in 25 seconds, around 41 words per minute. They’ve built in many advanced smart features that make this possible.

• An entire English dictionary, learning words you use most, including proper names as well as your address book/ contacts list.
• Advanced technology senses mistyped keys and predicts what you meant to type.
• Target zones around keys change in size if/when adjacent keys will not form a possible word. Nice.

Now if they could just add the cut/copy/paste feature that we are all accustomed to.

What is hot these days in the Apple Land? Looking at some of the other Apple blogs (yes, there are others), it appears that Apple has announced some rate plans for some sort of cell phone they are releasing Friday the 29th. After further research we found the following:

• Apple continues to impress with another iPhone video. The most recent video describes activation and syncing. Rumors began circulating a few weeks ago that activation would be performed at home, but no one was expecting the process to run through iTunes. The video makes the activation process look incredibly simple. Also, the iTunes application appears to be easier and faster than the systems used by the carriers themselves. In the future AT&T sales people might setup accounts using iTunes.
• Another video was released today covering the usage of the keyboard and intelligent correction features. Very nice.

A reader (Joseph) wrote to us recently concerning the iPhone calendar/task features saying, "emphasis on them has been minimal to non-existent". We are also very interested in these features! Our guess is that Apple hasn't covered these items because they aren't flashy enough (and don't require a data plan).

Another visitor (Sara) asked about the notes feature. Wondering if the iPhone with have handwriting recognition and what it will sync with on the Mac. It is our thought that the device will not include character recognition. The main reason being that Apple has created a text entry tool that everyone is familiar with and that allows for error prevention and correction -- a keyboard! That is great, but does not allow for the massive amounts of doodling I do during meetings. We are also unclear as to which application will be the source for note syncing. The Mail application shipping in Leopard includes a special message type for notes that does not exist in current versions of the Mac OS. Perhaps they will ship a simple notes application that will later migrate to Leopard.

Planning a sick day to buy an iPhone (or something equally important) and you're out of vacation time? No problem! Here are some sure-fire excuses you can use, followed by Monday morning cover stories for how you got your hands on an iPhone after missing work on launch day.

Use your imagination to embellish these excuses to make them unique and when absolutely necessary use more than one!

If you are a boss, be sure to read the disclaimer that follows.

Apple just updated their homepage, sent an email, and modified the iPhone page to include an extremely detailed Guided Tour of the iPhone.

This is by far the best cell phone video tour we have ever seen! More details will be posted here after we have had a chance to review the 20 minutes of video!

1. Sleep button prevents if from turning on "when it's in your pocket". So it is our guess that no decent carrying case will be included.
2. Can we assume that some iPod accessories are going to be iPhone compatible?
3. They refer to a phone keypad as "the old fashioned" way of dialing -- we haven't used the "old fashioned" touch screen to place calls for 3 years, hello... Voice Command!
4. .com button on the internet screen. Stinks for those who frequently visit .net, .org, or others. Another way they could do this would be to have a domain button that loads a secondary screen with the popular/or customized list of domain extensions (like what happens when they press the '.?123' button).

I have been scouring the Internet in an attempt to find answers to the external iSight mystery.

Lets start by reviewing a checklist of the things that are required for a successful 4-way video conference using iChat:

1. Participants need Mac computers running iChat.
2. 500-1500 Kbps Internet connection (more bandwidth needed to initiate the conference).

That should do it. It is not as difficult as many think!

Now that you have everything required, lets get started with a conference.

Hello Gary, Kate, and Sidney -- thank you for joining me in this video conference to discuss merging calls on the iPhone. What? You can't see me? Oh, that's right, this computer doesn't have a built in iSight camera. I had a feeling that checklist on AppleHound was missing something important. I need to run over to my local Apple store to get an external model, please continue without me.

The latest online demos of the iPhone are so perfect that Apple hardly needs to ship a manual with the device. The pamphlet they include only needs to cover the features that we have yet to see including the calendar, camera, clock, calculator, notes, and settings. What reason could Apple have for not creating demos for these applications?

It seems very reasonable to skip demos for the clock, calculator, and settings features. We can use our vivid imaginations on how those will operate.

Many owners of this device will use the calendar, camera, and notes features on a daily basis. These are major features of the phone! Rather than detailing these items, Apple has spent their time creating complex animations to describe Multi-touch, multitasking, an accelerometer, and the proximity sensor. While these hardware/OS features are great, it would be nice to see more demonstrations of the applications!

Earlier today Apple revealed the mystery icon on the iPhone as being YouTube. The Apple iPhone web pages have been updated to reflect this new feature.

It has become increasingly clear the extent that Apple and Google are planning to partner. Google Search, Maps, and YouTube on the iPhone, YouTube for Apple TV, and Google search in Safari. What's next, push Gmail to the iPhone? We hope so!

We are all excited to see how Google and Apple will continue to develop solutions using the sweet web 2.0 solutions Apple is providing!

Are you considering an iPhone purchase on June 29th? If so, prepare yourself for the following while waiting to make your purchase:

1. Long lines.
2. News crews with cameras in your face -- if they ask you anything about purchasing the iPhone just yell out "AppleHound.com"! Thanks.
3. A bunch of people obsessing over time like never before... counting the milliseconds to 6 PM.
4. Conversations about if there will be enough phones for the 21st, 41st, or 201st person in line. If Apple and AT&T want to control the crazed fanboys they should consider communicating quantities upfront. Also, they need to be prepared with a good speech to calm down those people that will likely be turned away without a phone in hand.

During the WWDC 2007 Keynote Address Steve Jobs announced Safari for Windows. There are several proposed reasons for this release including:

1. Apple will make money whenever users perform Google searches using the integrated search feature.
2. Web developers who run Windows will be able to test their iPhone "applications".
3. Windows users who run Safari will become accustomed to working with Apple programs, possibly helping to sell Mac's.

An Apple press release posted today announces longer battery life as compared to previous estimates. This is great news! 250 hours standby is incredible for a device like this. The bottom of the iPhone technical specifications page provides details on how to increase use time.

Here are the specifics for those of you who don't feel like leaving AppleHound :-)

The individuals that make up the current board of directors run investment, financial software development, biotechnology, clothing, and Internet businesses. Al Gore, former Vice President of the United States is also a member. The experience and business knowledge that this mix of individuals provides is extremely valuable to Apple.

Another individual on the board is Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. We suspect that there are not many companies that have a direct competitor on their board of directors. The following items show areas where these companies may compete.

As we get closer to the iPhone release there are an increasing number of concerns about the device and how Apple and AT&T have handled the pre-release communications. The top issues at this point include (and are not limited to) the following:

There are two events that every Apple fan and blogger look forward to during the year -- World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) and Macworld. The likely reason for the excitement is that these are the times when Apple opens up and shares details of what they have been working on for the past year.

During the WWDC keynote today Steve Jobs covered as much as humanly possible in about 1 hour 20 minutes (the scheduled time was 1 hour 30 minutes). If he would have attempted to covered any more it may have seemed rushed.

Every Apple related blog out there is covering the news today. At this point it is pretty hard to come up with unique story, but that won't keep us from sharing our ideas.

It was nice of Steve/Apple to present the award to Intel for their efforts during the processor transition. This will likely be the last keynote where it is highlighted.

The 10 major features that Steve covered were great.

What are we going to hear at WWDC 2007? Here is a summary of the top items that are being discussed around the Internet.

• A peek at some Leopard "Top Secret" features they were held back during WWDC 2006.
• Announcement of a new iMac with an brushed aluminum case.
• Xcode enhancements that allow for easier and faster development.
• An update on the iPhone development efforts.
• The usual WWDC topics -- updates on retail, software sales figures, market share, etc.

A German site has supposedly acquired the Keynote Transcript for WWDC07 (translated). This seems like way too much for one keynote address. On his best day Steve could rush through about half this list. But even half the list would be great!

I just watched the "How To" iPhone commercial and noticed something that suggests that Apple may soon market the iPhone as a business device.

Prior demos of the email application displayed messages about shopping lists, birth announcements, and other personal titles. The commercial released on the June 3rd shows Thing flicking through a variety of messages with the following professional titles and content "Client meeting", "Results are in" (fiscal year results), "My itinerary", "Meeting delay", and "Cell phone list". While non-business related messages also appear mixed in, there are not as many.

Well it appears as though the rumor sites got one right for a change -- A couple days ago Apple released an updated MacBook Pro with the latest Intel Core 2 Duo processor, memory up to 4GB, and higher-speed graphics. The 15 inch model is now LED-backlit resulting in a mercury-free display.

These new models are great, but I still think one of the coolest features of the Apple notebooks is the MagSafe Power Adapter. For some reason I feel the need to test this out every time I am in the Apple store. It doesn't take much to amuse me.

Apple has posted a fourth iPhone TV Ad on their web site. This one covers web browsing in a more detail -- well, as much detail as possible in a 30 second commercial.

How many ads do you think they will release before the June 29 launch date?

The majority of Mac users who browse AppleHound do so using the Safari browser. This is likely due to the fact that Safari comes loaded on every Mac. There are a wide variety of free alternatives available that will provide you with a slightly different browsing experience. The most popular choices include:

The OpenOffice.org Mac Porting team announced today the first development release of the Aqua version of OpenOffice.org for Mac OS X.

There are a number of known issues with the software -- they state that this release may crash and destroy your data. Has that ever kept you from running software in the past? Seriously though, a couple of the missing features are pretty major (printing/copy & paste).

What do you think of this release? Do you like it more than NeoOffice?

What does Apple need to do to keep their hardware/software ahead of Dell and Microsoft Windows Vista and gain market share? The most important thing is communicate what the Mac is and what it does.

The theory -- not many PC users know what a Mac can do. Testing needed:

1. Walk around your local mall.
2. Randomly stop people and ask them if they think the Mac has a mail client like Outlook or if it can be used to surf the internet with a program like Internet Explorer?
3. Please report back here.

The most likely answers will be one or more of the following:

1. I don't know. Go ask someone at the Apple store.
2. What is a Mac?
3. It should if it doesn't.
4. My friend is a graphic artist, I could call them and get the answer for you.
5. Help! Security!
6. Depending on where you live -- Insert profanity here.

On January 9, 2007 Steve Jobs announced that Apple Computer, Inc. would now be named Apple Inc. to better reflect the product mix that they have today. In the following weeks and months many bloggers were increasingly upset about this change.

The end of the Mac is right around the corner -- correct? I just don't see a company can possibly develop computer hardware and software without the word computer its name. You know like Microsoft Computers, HP Computers, IBM Computers, Dell Computers, and Gateway Computers. Oh wait a second... none of those companies have the word computer in their official name. Is it possible that maybe some people overreacted a little bit about the Apple name change?

iPhone TV ads have been released on apple.com. Oh and one other little thing -- a release date! June 29th!

Still no word from AT&T on their iPhone plans or rates.

If Apple had a lot of money laying around to acquire a business, I believe one of the best selections would be Adobe.

The Adobe product line would compliment Apple's Pro applications nicely (or vice versa). Also, many high-end Mac users utilize Adobe applications to produce their creative works -- the most popular being Photoshop. What happens when this portion of your customer base waits for a new version of Photoshop before purchasing a new Mac Pro? Let me put it this way -- I have been told that businesses experience the most success when customers are buying their products. It is a strange phenomenon, and something I have never been able to grasp fully. So, I guess in this case it is a bad thing to have Adobe control your customers spending habits.

Have you ever had something on your computer that was for your eyes only? No, not THAT stuff. I am talking about things like notes in your address book, or perhaps some email correspondence with potential employers. These aren't things that you necessarily want just anyone reading.

Step in to the near future with me for a minute... Oh sweet I have an iPhone. Finally I can sync all my most important content with my phone! Steve was right, it fits beautify in the palm of my hand. Oh, and I am touching my music (you will have to take my word on this -- it doesn't feel like what you would expect). Wow I could play with this phone for at least 5 hours or more depending on what I am doing. Here comes the scary part of this dream sequence -- someone wants to look at my iPhone. Um, yeah you can look at it but ahh don't look at your contact information. I wrote some things about you that I don't want you to see. Yes, it has email, but don't look in there either because there are some private communications. Alright there is my example, when I count to three you will open your eyes and feel refreshed and want to get an iPhone of your own (that way you won't have to play with my unit).

The following are the most talked about release dates for the iPhone.

Countdown to 6/11/2007 for those of you who think Steve Jobs is going to talk about the iPhone rather than Leopard development at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) keynote (6/11-6/15).

Countdown to 6/15/2007 for those of you who trust the AT&T internal communication notifying staff that they can't take vacation between the June 15th and July 15th.

Countdown to 6/20/2007 for those of you who trust the CNBC Report.

Countdown to 6/29/2007 for those of you who trust the official Apple iPhone TV commercials.

Countdown to 6/30/2007 for those of your who trust Apple's report of "late June".

Which date are you counting on?