How could 2.0.1 be anything less than an emergency release? The performance of 2.0 may have seemed decent to new iPhone users, but those who had used the prior generation knew better.

What are your early impressions of 2.0.1? What are you hoping for in 2.1?

Pangea Software was one of the companies selected by Apple to present their applications at WWDC. One of the applications demoed by Pangea was a puzzle game named Enigmo. Two days later Pangea received an Apple Design Award for the "Best iPhone Game". You can hardly ask for a better product announcement event.

At the time of writing the $9.99 Enigmo is #4 on the Top Paid Apps list with more than 300 comments and an average rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Way back when I used a Windows Mobile phone there were a few games like this that I really enjoyed. There is just something satisfying about completing a puzzle and reaching a goal. I have played through 10 levels and am finding the gameplay to be fairly easy. It does take a little time to figure out how each of the little objects can affect the flow of the droplets. The game would benefit from a practice level that lets you learn how to interact with the objects without the sacrifice of bonus points!

A Mac version of the game is available on the Pangea site for $19.95.

The New York Times has just reported that the App Store will open Thursday, July 10!

Upon opening the store will offer more than 500 applications, 25% of which will be free. 90% of the commercial software will be sold for $9.99 or less. Also, a third of the first 500 applications will be games.

Documented iTunes 7.7 changes include the ability to sync music, video, and more with iPhone 3G, and download applications from the iTunes Store exclusively designed for iPhone and iPod touch with software version 2.0 or later. Also use the new Remote application for iPhone or iPod touch to control iTunes playback from anywhere in your home -- a free download from the App Store.

Now all we need is the iPhone and iPod touch 2.0 firmware!

Freeverse has a couple games ready to go for the iPhone and iPod touch when the App Store goes live.

Wingnuts Moto Racer is a bike racing game that uses the accelerometer to steer. During the WWDC keynote Pangea Software demoed a similar style game named Cro-Mag Rally. For some reason this type of game just doesn't appeal to me. Of course that won't stop me from downloading a demo if one is made available.

The other game, Sudoku, has a much better chance of making it on my iPhone. The only problem for Freeverse (and others) is that Sudoku is such a popular game that there are likely to be many versions of it in the App Store. It's along the same lines as the tip calculator and unit converter applications -- it will be tough to sell them when good free options are available.

Future offerings that Freeverse has in the works include Golf, Bowling, Soccer, and Baseball spots games.

The Rolando site doesn't include much information about the game. It appears that you interact with round characters, elevators, trampolines, and other objects to solve puzzles. The only solid information provided on the game site is that the application is coming to the iPhone and iPod touch during the summer of 2008. My guess is that they are going to sell a lot of this one!

Check out the YouTube trailer:

Shortly after the iPhone was announced in January 2007 blogs began posting articles critical of Apple's decision to make the iPhone a closed-architecture. The general belief was that this would limit the potential of the device because many users wanted the freedom to load full featured applications like games and task managers. Shortly after the iPhone was released in June 2007 web developers made sites available to fill some of the gaps. While better than nothing, they do not work when disconnected from the Internet and performance cannot match that of native applications even when connected through wi-fi.

At the time a friend was considering an iPhone purchase but was disappointed that his favorite mobile application named eWallet would not be released for the iPhone. His thought at the time was that the application was more important than the phone. Several months after the iPhone was released I was surprised to hear that he had purchased an iPhone. The reason? The overall experience was so much better than Windows Mobile that a single application could no longer be the deciding factor.

Last week Ilium Software announced that an iPhone version of their eWallet application would be made available on the App Store as soon as it goes live and Apple approves it. Pricing has not been announced, though I would expect it to be in the range of their other versions -- $29.95. It is also unknown if discounts will be provided to owners from other platforms. Visit the Ilium Software iPhone blog post for more information, images, and to post a comment to the developers!

The enterprise and App Store features in iPhone 2.0 will transform the iPhone into a new device. Add 3G and GPS in the mix and you are looking at a game changing device (again).

Since the release of Leopard I have wanted to hide the Time Machine drive that appears on my desktop. About once a week I would see the icon and wish it gone. You know what they say -- wish in one hand and something else in the other and see which one fills up first. So, after washing up, I decided to present my wish to Google instead. A few seconds later I had a link to a simple solution from Macworld titled Hide Time Machine's icon in the Finder.

Here is the quick version for those familiar with AppleScript (replace Time_Machine_drive_name with your drive name):

I read an interesting Google Groups post today that got me thinking about software release expectations. The post is in the Coda group and is titled When is the next release planned?. This is a fairly common inquiry in many software support forums. There are several reasons why I think end-users pose this question to software creators.

In the case of purchased software there may be is a sense of entitlement. Money has changed hands and the purchaser feels as though they should have more say in the development process and schedule. The customer may also have a desire to validate their purchase decision.

As a software developer I have a fair amount of experience dealing with end-user expectations. It always amazes me when users expect Apple, Adobe, Google or Microsoft quality and quantity from a small team of developers.

The main difference here is that the end-user can more easily influence the independent developer than the giant corporation. Adobe has created a mature image editing application in Photoshop, and they know it. Pixelmator on the other hand doesn't have the luxury of market dominance. They are the underdog who still has something to prove in their pursuit to compete with the big boys. Many customers know this and take every opportunity to attempt to get Photoshop features at a Pixelmator price.

In the year since iPhone was released I have been a lot more focused on creating and maintaining a complete address book. In a perfect world each contact would have data populated in all available fields. With nearly 350 contacts this has turned out to be a time-consuming task!

One thing that has complicated the process is the fact that the iPhone contacts feature does not include the full set of fields that are available in the Mac Address Book application. Missing fields include related names, maiden name, and instant messaging. A common workaround has been to utilize the note field to hold these details. Not a glamorous solution, but it works.

Missing fields will likely be more of an issue for business users who use additional information to personalize customer interactions. For example, prior to a business meeting a salesperson might review a customer contact record to enhance small talk. How are your wife Peggy and kids Paul and Beth?

On January 9, 2007 during the Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs explained in detail why iPhone is superior to other devices. Not counting the hardware design, the most important item presented was the software. Software that is more advanced than any other smart phone out there.

With all the advanced functionality provided by OS X it is surprising that Apple has neglected to implement a basic feature like the clipboard. They have however slightly reduced the need for a clipboard with the Data Detectors feature. A phone number in the body of an email is automatically converted to a link that when tapped launches the phone application. Similarly, web addresses become links and launch Safari.

Data Detectors are great, but it does not assist with more advanced interactions in an application or between applications. For example, when you need to copy text from a web page and paste it into an email, SMS, or Notes. Copy selected text from a note and paste it into an email. Now with third-party applications and enterprise users around the corner there will be an even larger need to manage content in and between applications.

There is a certain thrill in following Apple rumors leading up to a keynote. What is Apple planning for Mac OS X and which cat comes after Leopard? What fabulous new products are going to appear when the store comes back online? Will the iPhone have GPS with navigation software? The possible answers to all of these questions and more can be found on a wide variety of Apple and gadget related sites.

Between Macworld and WWDC the average Apple follower has read thousands of blog posts discussing topics from the iPhone to ultra portable notebooks. The exciting (and sometimes disappointing) thing for many come keynote day is finding out how big of a sucker they were for the past five months. How many fabricated stories did they buy into? How much time did they squander reading crap designed to drive traffic and advertising impressions/clicks?

The fact is that an estimated 97% of what you have read was wrong. The rumor sites likely got you excited for *something* that Apple is not currently planning to deliver. I have written this post to help many who are struggling to deal with the post-keynote blues. The following points will help you avoid these pitfalls between this Apple announcement and the next.

Well, we are a little more than an hour away from the WWDC keynote! If you are like me (an Apple fan without the resources to go to WWDC), you will have to settle for watching the events online. Here are a few sites providing live coverage:

• Ars Technica [Web and IRC]
• CrunchGear [Web]
• Engadget [Web]. Has a good history with live coverage.
• Gizmodo [Web]
• iLounge [Web] [flickr]
• iPhone Buzz [Web]
• iPhone Alley [Web with Ustream.tv audio]
• KeynoteRumors [Web] Not at the event but discussing it using a player from Mogulus.
• MacRumors [Web]
• macnn [Web]
• TUAW [IRC] [Text Messages]
• TWiT Live [Stickam]. Leo will not be at the event, but is chatting about the live blogs.

Android is described by Google as "the first complete, open, and free mobile platform". More specifically, it is a software stack for mobile devices that includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. The Android SDK provides the tools and APIs necessary to develop applications on the Android platform using the Java programming language.

Like the iPhone Software Development Kit (SDK), the Android SDK is being made available for free to developers to create applications.

iPhone developers who wish to make their applications available to the public must apply to the iPhone Developer Program. The $99 Standard Program is for developers who are creating free and commercial applications for iPhone and iPod touch. An $299 Enterprise Program is available for developers who are creating proprietary, in-house applications.

Android developers are encouraged to discuss the platform and their coding experiences in groups, forums, and blogs. This is in contrast to Apple's decision to require developers to agree to a ten page iPhone SDK pre-release non-disclosure agreement. In my view Apple is making it more difficult than it needs to be for developers to create great applications. It is these roadblocks that make other platforms like Android appear more developer friendly.

While Android appears to be a very solid developer friendly mobile operating system, it is to early to tell how devices running the OS will compare to the more established Windows Mobile and iPhone.

Below are a few YouTube videos from the Google I/O Conference held this last week. These videos remind me how excited I am for the iPhone 2.0 software update coming in late June.

I have received several messages from readers stating that their local Apple stores have run out of iPhones. More concerning than simply being out of iPhones is the fact that the retail staff do not know when their stock will be replenished. The search for available iPhones is beginning to look like a page out of a Where's Waldo book. Can you spot the iPhone in this picture?

The most popular and logical explanation for the shortage is the release of a 3G iPhone. Assuming this is the case, the only point of discussion is timing. Apple has run out of product too quickly prior to the release of the next model. This was either a mistake or a move to ensure they aren't stuck holding previous generation devices.

Many of the blogs I read (see the 'Pages We Enjoy' section to the right) are expecting the release of the next generation iPhone will occur during or shortly after the WWDC. The timing would match perfectly with the iPhone 2.0 software update. What else will Steve Jobs announce during the keynote? My guess is that it will go something like this:

• We are very excited to see a jump in registered developers.
• The final version of the iPhone SDK will be available.
• Officially announce that the iPhone will be available in a lot more countries soon.
• New iPhone model with 3G. Maybe with GPS, more memory, and a slightly different design.
• Get developers excited about easily distributing their applications with a demo of the App Store.
• Show off other new applications and improvements that appear in 2.0.
• One more thing... Mac development. It is about time they get us thinking about the next OS X release.

What do you think? Will Apple restock their stores with the existing model? Will the 3G iPhone be released this summer?

I have been running Mozilla browsers almost exclusively since before Firefox was release. After installing Leopard I decided to run Safari full-time. No good reason other than Firefox seemed to be having more memory and crash issues and I was ready for a change.

According to the Apple website, "Safari 3.1 is the first browser to support the new video and audio tags in HTML 5 and the first to support CSS Animations. Safari also supports CSS Web Fonts, giving designers limitless choices of fonts to create stunning new web sites". All that and they didn't bump the release to 4.0?

The next important step for Apple is adoption by developers and end-users. Are you a web developer who likes to develop for all the latest cool technologies? Always looking for a development challenge? If so, this version of Safari is just what you have been waiting for! In addition to the Flash, HTML, mobile, and iPhone versions of your sites you can also have a special Safari version! What could be more fun than ensuring your site looks and works the same in IE6-8, Firefox, Opera, and Safari! I know what you are going to be working on for the next year.

Adding these features to Safari is smart for one reason -- iPhone. Web developers need a more feature rich browser to provide application like experience for iPhone. Lists need to slide on and off the screen, missing fonts need to load magically. Next up -- offline sites with local SQL storage. The iPhone SDK will create a lot of opportunity for Mac developers, but the latest version of Safari ensures that web developers remain relevant in the future!

This last week was filled with a wide range of security updates for the Mac (and Windows with Safari). I don't know about you, but I love updates.

• Digital Camera RAW Compatibility Update 2.0 - Viewing a maliciously crafted image may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution. Personally I think arbitrary code execution adds a little excitement to life.
• AirPort Extreme Base Station Firmware 7.3.1 - A maliciously crafted AFP request may lead to a denial of service.
• Security Update 2008-002 - Includes critical security updates to AFP Client, AFP Server, Apache, AppKit, Application Firewall, CFNetwork, ClamAV, CoreFoundation, CoreServices, CUPS, curl, Emacs, file, Foundation, Help Viewer, Image Raw, Kerberos, libc, mDNSResponder, notifyd, OpenSSH, pax archive utility, PHP, Podcast Producer, Preview, Printing, System Configuration, UDF, Wiki Server, X11.
• Safari 3.1 - This update includes security and feature enhancements. Additional comments on the new features will appear in another post.

I have watched the Apple March 6 Event several times now. The first time through it all seemed too good to be true. I mean really -- did Phil Schiller, Apple SVP of World Wide Product Marketing just present that long list of enterprise features? Was Scott Forstall, Apple VP of iPhone Software showing us how quick and easy it is to create great applications for the iPhone using an SDK? Did they just show screenshots of an App Store that allows users to wirelessly load applications? Wow.

Lets explore the announcements in a little more detail...

The invite included the following teaser "Please join us to learn about the iPhone software roadmap, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features."

Enterprise features you say? This has got to be full Exchange support. It isn't like enterprise users have been demanding anything else. It wouldn't be surprising for this to be an add-on solution that Apple sells for $19.99+ per user.

While the iPhone does many things better than the competition, there are enhancements that would allow Apple maintain its spot at the top including updates to the Phone, Settings/General, Mail/Safari, Clock/Calculator/Notes, YouTube/Maps, Stock/Weather, Photos/Camera, and Text/Calendar applications.

It is surprising how quickly 3rd party developers have been able to create applications for the iPhone. The most amazing thing being the fact that they have done so without an official SDK, documentation, or support from Apple. With this in mind I question the speed at which Apple has enhanced their own iPhone applications. Apple developers should be able to crank out fixes and enhancements -- seeing as they likely employ the most experienced iPhone developers in the world!

Do you think Apple has put enough of a focus on the continued improvement of the iPhone? Does it seem like the firmware releases should include more fixes and features? Which software updates are you hoping for in the next release?

The Apple TV 2.0 update also known as 'Take 2' was released yesterday to many eager owners of the device.

Navigation is fast and easy. You start from a broad category like TV Shows and drill down by genres, TV network, or searching. Apple definitely understands what it takes to organize content.

The update brings with it the ability to rent movies directly from iTunes without requiring the use of a computer. Movie rental prices vary based on their age and video quality. Library titles (older movies) are $2.99 for standard definition and $3.99 for high definition. New releases (30 days after DVD release) are $3.99 for standard definition and $4.99 for high definition. These prices are decent but not as reasonable as the $1.00 Redbox new release rentals available down the street. The argument for the higher iTunes cost could be the bandwidth needed for Apple to transmit the video, though I'll bet it costs Redbox a decent amount for their rental machines and staff to distribute the discs at in each location. Apple TV wins the connivence game but misses on cost. The end result will likely be a mixed rental strategy based on selection, connivence, and access to less expensive options.

A few hours ago Apple released a major update to the Leopard operating system. Improvements have been made to stacks, Finder, Safari, and Time Machine.

Apple has done us all a favor by providing a detailed list of included updates (the iPhone team could learn a thing or two from the OS X crew in this area):

Since the iPhone was released last June there has been a lot of talk about bugs, new program features, SDK, 3G, GPS, hacks, etc. One thing that hasn't been discussed a lot is the internal storage of the iPhone. It appears that most people have been able to easily work with the 8GB model.

4GB model was history after a few short months of existence. No surprises here.

Includes just the right amount of storage for people who want take a piece of their media on the road. This is not nearly enough for power users who will fill their phones with mail, rented movies, and music.

Announced on February 5th the 16GB model has the capacity needed to turn the iPhone in to a respectable pocket computer. An extra 8GB of storage allows for more video, music, podcasts, and most importantly applications and the data they produce. Another possible feature that would make use of the extra storage is disk mode -- the ability to store and retrieve data files from your iPhone.

How much storage would you like on your iPhone and what would you do with it?

The 1.1.3 iPhone and iPod touch update includes a new feature called WebClip that allows users to save a graphical bookmark on their home screens. Tapping an icon on the home screen is a lot faster than loading Safari and browsing through a hierarchy of bookmarks!

One great thing about WebClips is that they can be added to web sites with very little effort. Simply create a 57x57 pixel graphic with your logo and upload it to your web server (you can optionally override the location and filename by adding a link element to the head element of your web page). More details can be found on the iPhone Dev Center web site.

Go ahead and give it a shot! Start Safari on your iPhone/touch, tap the '+' icon on the bottom of the screen, tap 'Add to Home Screen', tap the 'Add' button. Done!

The iPhone software version 1.1.3 that Apple released last week after the keynote address is one of the largest updates to date. Not only does it fix bugs, it also adds new features! Is there anything more exciting to iPhone users (and blog authors) than an update that includes new features? I think not. Which new features made it in to the release, what has been fixed, does it break third party applications, does it brick hacked phones?

Updates that appear in this release include:

Many questions have been raised concerning the Apple TV, a product Steve Jobs described as a "hobby" at the All Things Digital conference. Jobs continued to explain "A lot of people have tried and failed to make that a business". This was viewed by many as a hint to the likely demise of the much admired product.

Recently rumors have started to emerge that suggest a strong future for the Apple TV. At the top of the list is movie rentals. AppleInsider posted recently confirmed details about $2-6 movie rentals coming to iTunes 7.6 at Macworld. It seems logical that you would also be able to stream, sync, or purchase the same movies from your Apple TV. Rentals of inexpensive, new release, DVD quality movies would surely help sell Apple TV's.

I have never been one to establish new year's resolutions, but that might be what is needed to get me writing more frequently. What is the problem you ask? Well, it all boils down to the goals I set for myself when starting AppleHound.

The most difficult goal was to make a concerted effort to post unique content. The world does not need another copy and paste Apple news blog. This was surprisingly easy at first thanks to the iPhone, but became more difficult during slow news days/weeks/months. Also, it takes a lot more time to create posts that are not a simple rehash of the days news. I am not going to abandon this goal entirely but will bend it a little more this year.

So my resolution this year is to create a blogging schedule and post on a wider range of subjects. I may also pursue individuals who have shown an interest in contributing to AppleHound.

iPhone Confetti Wallpaper:

The general rule when purchasing computer equipment is to wait until you need it because the price will go down. Have you ever noticed how Apple products don't follow this rule?

I have been thinking about purchasing another Mac Pro for some graphic projects we have been working on recently. For the heck of it I pulled out my receipt to see how the price and specs have changed since September 2006. The following table shows how things compare.

While the component costs for Apple are likely down, the consumer continues to pay the same and in some cases more for the final product. CPU prices are down 9% and RAM is 37% less expensive after a year. Video cards, hard disks, and wireless components are also much less expensive today. Manufacturers continue to create faster and more feature-rich products, yet the Mac Pro you purchase today is made up of the same major components from a year ago.

The Post Office Protocol (POP) mail retrieval method just doesn't cut it these days. People want their mail to appear in sync on all of their devices. Login using your favorite mail application on your computer or with the iPhone or web mail when remote. Email shouldn't be something that needs to be managed on each device!

Since Google added support for Internet Messaging Access Protocol (IMAP) to Gmail I check my mail more frequently. This is because I am not dreading having to login to the web interface to perform clean up work.

Why is it that so many people talk about Steve Jobs as if he makes every decision in Apple? Was Steve the lead product manager on Leopard? Did he personally select the 300+ new features that were added? Does he pull the development staff together every day to run through the bug list? Did he develop Time Machine? Is he working on the iPhone SDK? Where does he find the time to manage every single detail in the company?

It should be obvious that Steve can not directly manage every project undertaken by the 17,787 Apple employees. So why is it that people are compelled to say things like...

Has anyone out there been overwhelmed by the Leopard coverage this month? My RSS reader sure got a workout! 15 popular Apple blogs created a total of more than 600 posts about Leopard. How many ways can you cover the Time Machine feature? 53 ways. Chances are, if it is in Leopard it has been covered, then covered again. Here is a link to a page on the Apple website that conveniently summarizes 95% of the Leopard related blog posts.

I will summarize my experience with Leopard like this... The install was flawless, new features are great, the interface is polished, and the price is right.

1. Voice dialing. Many consider this to be a critical feature on phones without individual plastics number buttons.
2. Show call duration on the Recent Calls detail screen.
3. Enable the editing of contacts while on a call.
4. Caller ID has become a critical telephone technology. It is commonly used to avoid calls and prepare a greeting like 'Oh hey Steve'. This feature is less helpful when the phone is holstered on your hip and you are listening to music. When a call comes in you could take your chances and pinch the switch on the cable, in most cases people will remove the phone to see who is calling before committing to a conversation. The suggestion is to announce who is calling through the headphones (either by name or number). This could be accomplished using text to speech or by adding a contact specific recording on the Assign Ringtone screen.
5. Support for multiple greetings/messages. The most likely features would allow for custom messages based on contact groups. For example, contacts in a 'Work' group would receive a message such as 'You have reached the voicemail for Robert. I am not currently available, if you need assistance with the web servers please call 555-1234, otherwise leave a voice mail and I will return your call as soon as possible'. Other messages could be created for personal contact groups, etc.

1. The Lock Sounds and Keyboard Clicks are nice but in my opinion louder than they need to be. Rather than turning the sounds off it would be nice to adjust the volume levels for each sound.
2. Display a thumbnail of the currently selected wallpaper on the 'Wallpaper' item on the Settings screen as well as the Wallpaper screen above the album views. This would provide a more convenient indicator of the selected wallpaper when viewing settings (more convenient than turning the phone off and on).
3. Add more detail to the end of each mail account line to show whether the account is on or off. For example, the mail account would be listed with the description text on the left and the on/off status to the right.
4. Add an option to view/edit 'Known networks' to the 'Wi-Fi Networks' page.
5. Add an 'SMS' page to the settings screen. Add an option on the new page to hide incoming SMS communication previews. On several occasions when sharing an iMovie video on my iPhone a surprise incoming personal message has popped up on the screen for all to see. The proposed option would allow the user to select how they would like to be notified of incoming messages. Possible options include the existing preview text, a nondescript 'Incoming SMS' pop-up message box, or some other visual indicator (like an SMS icon appearing next to the battery graphic). The audible/vibrate feedback would not need to change.
6. Add a 'Dictionary' page to the General settings screen that allows users to view/edit custom dictionary words.
7. Add a page to manage privacy settings including pieces of data that can only be viewed after entering a passcode. For example, contact notes, web history, and note files.
8. Allow the user to change the order that email boxes appear in the mail application using the same methods as Safari bookmarks.

1. Option to delete more than one email at a time. For example, tap to select/flag messages then tap a button to display a pop-up with actions including 'Delete Selected'.
2. Option to delete all messages such as the contents of the 'Spam' folder.
3. The mailbox list view is indented to the right to allow space for a blue dot that appears next to unread messages. There is enough space in this margin area for other graphics/symbols such as the attachment paperclip and the 'To/Cc Label'. Moving these indicators to the left margin would make the email list even easier to read and makes better use of the screen real estate.
4. Allow unique signatures for each account rather than the entire mail application. This would be helpful when using the mail application for business and personal mail accounts.
5. The mail application checks for mail upon entering the application even though the Auto-Check setting is set to Manual. When set to Manual, the checking of mail should only be initiated when tapping the refresh/check mail button in the lower left corner of the screen.

I will copy and paste Steve's message here because hot news articles disappear after time...

1. Allow the user to set more than one timer and optionally specify titles to each. Multiple timers would be helpful when juggling tasks - turn off sprinklers 30 minutes, take dinner out of oven 20 minutes, and call Mom back 1 hour.

1. Turn the calculator into a multi-function application like the clock. Add buttons along the bottom for the calculator, a unit converter (from the Mac OS X Unit Converter -- area, currency, energy, temperature, time, length, weight, speed, pressure, power, volume), tip calculator (bill amount, tip percent, bill split, etc).
2. Add separator commas to more clearly display numbers in the thousands.
3. Add a backspace button to delete mistakenly typed numbers.

1. When searching allow for sorting by relevance, date added, view count, and rating as provided in the full web client.
2. Allow user to login to YouTube/Google account to view/maintain YouTube stored favorites rather than the local bookmark tracking on iPhone. This feature could not be implemented until the entire YouTube library is updated to H.264.
3. Allow the user to sort YouTube bookmarks using the same methods as Safari bookmarks.

1. Cache some chart data to allow the user to switch between chart views without receiving the 'Retrieving Data...' message. For example tap the '1y' button to view the one year chart -> tap the '2y' button to view the two year chart -> tap the '1y' button again. Each tap between views results in the retrieving data label appearing (even though at this time the markets are closed and data is not changing).
2. Option to pinch to zoom in and out of the chart to view different times. This can appear more smooth by locally storing a small amount of historical data for each symbol.
3. Option to scroll the chart back and forth to view data at a selected zoom level. For example, you can view the one day chat for symbols, but what did yesterday look like? In order to see this you would have to switch to the week view. Doing so causes you to loose out on the more detailed hour view. An example of this scrolling feature can be seen at finance.google.com.
4. Retrieve more data for symbols. Add a tabbed view that allows users to view charts, open/high/low/close/volume type information. Retrieve news headlines for each symbol that when clicked load in Safari.

Apple has updated their online store to include pre-orders of the delayed Mac OS X Leopard which will be released on October 26th.

Earlier this year Apple disappointed some customers when they diverted key Mac OS engineers to the iPhone project. This decision meant that the Leopard release that Apple had been hyping for several months would be delayed. This caused some in the media (including blogs) to question Apple staffing levels.

Hello, October 26th.

1. When new users reach the beginning or end of a photo album they continue flicking 3 to 4 extra times because they do not realize that there are no additional photos in the album. More experienced users will recognize the rubber banding action and try 1 or 2 more times just to make sure there aren't any more photos. A possible solution to the extra flicks would be to provide a visual indicator when the user attempts to flip past the first or last image.
2. Add a method to select a primary photo for each standard photo album rather than using the first photo in the album (idea is like the 'Make Key Photo' option in iPhoto '08). A possible implementation would be to add a button to the image action screen that appears after tapping the icon in the lower left corner (when in portrait mode) of the image viewer.

This is the first in a series of posts covering the enhancements we would like to see in a future iPhone software update. Breaking the list up in to multiple posts should make commenting on individual applications easier.

1. Disable the 'Send' button for space character or return-only SMS messages. In other words, trim the spaces and carriage returns from the beginning and end of the message. Disable the 'Send' button if the remaining text length is zero.
2. Add an SMS context sensitive keyboard button that when tapped brings up a user managed list of phrases such as 'See you there' or 'What time?'. Tapping on a phrase would result in the text being inserted in to the message textbox.
3. It is not easy to hide the keyboard once it is displayed on the screen. Users may want to view the full screen message history to review long conversations or after changing their minds about sending a message. To demonstrate, tap the 'SMS' icon on the home screen -> tap a conversations to load its contents (this is not necessary in some cases as the iPhone will return you to the last viewed conversation). If no conversations exist, create one by sending a message to a friend then restart the SMS application from the home screen. When viewing an existing conversation the majority of the screen will display call-outs containing individual messages. Tapping on the textbox at the bottom of the screen will present the user with the keyboard. At this point the most likely actions to hide the keyboard are pressing the home button followed by tapping SMS or tapping the 'Messages' button in the upper left and re-entering the conversation. The suggested enhancement would allow the user to tap on the conversation/content area to hide the keyboard. This behavior can be found in the Safari application when entering a URL or performing a search, the user can tap on the content area of the application to hide the form and keyboard.
4. Add a clear textbox (x) to the upper right corner of the input area. This would allow users to quickly clear text rather than having the backspace the entire message.
5. Tap message bubbles to display their sent or received time stamp. The display could appear above the bubble as with other timestamps on this screen, or in the form of a popup if the user performs a tap and hold like occurs with URLs and links in Safari.

Apple today launched their iPhone web application directory. Surprisingly, the page is a desktop style directory like the Download pages, not a special mobile/iPhone version. The application categories include Calculate, Entertainment, Games, News, Productivity, Search Tools, Social Networking, Sports, Travel, Utilities, and Weather.

My fear is if too many people use this site that Apple will come to the conclusion that web sites are the best third party application solution for the iPhone.

Have you noticed how Apple news has been increasingly negative in the past month? I try to keep my articles upbeat, but it has been hard to find many positive things to talk about.

Apple stock continues to reach new highs and some are just now coming to the realization that Apple is a big corporation with the goal of making a profit. The primary focus has shifted from the Mac to other profitable products like the iPod and iPhone. Many of the Apple faithful that stood by this company through the good and bad times now feel as though they have been left behind and forgotten. They don't have that feeling of being a part of something special, a tight-knit family of loyal Mac users sticking up for the little guy.

It wasn't too long ago that Apple could do no wrong. Steve was admired for his ability to mesmerize an audience with new product announcements. Today every public decision Apple makes will be scrutinized. Any action that appears to be made solely on the basis of increasing profits will result in a backlash from the community.

The iPhone 1.1.1 update breaks network hacked phones. The most unique description of this is the dead cow analogy from Leo Leport. The general belief is that it would have been easy for Apple developers to review the checksum of system files prior to updating the phone. Continue with the upgrade if the files match approved values, otherwise notify the user that the upgrade is not possible. Apple chose to go the route of a press release and a warning message prior to the upgrade in iTunes. Users who ignored the warnings are now shopping for a new cell phone.

99 cent ringtones. Surprisingly this has a lot of people upset. The outrage doesn't make sense when you consider what other companies are charging for ringtones (Only $1.99 annual fee per Ringback Tone with a $0.99 monthly subscription). So you want to make ringtones of songs you already own? Well, prior to iPhone 1.1.1 you could do this using the popular Ambrosia Software iToner application. Not anymore. Daring Fireball has a great article covering the whole ringtone subject in more detail.

Today we received an iPhone update. This release resolves bugs that we can easily verify and adds great new features.

• iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store
• Louder speakerphone and receiver volume
• Home Button double-click shortcut to phone favorites or music controls
• Space bar double-tap shortcut to intelligently insert period and space
• Mail attachments are viewable in portrait and landscape
• Stocks and cities in Stocks and Weather ca be re-ordered
• Apple Bluetooth Headset battery status in the Status Bar
• Support for TV Out
• Preference to turn off EDGE/GPRS when roaming internationally
• New Passcode lock time intervals
• Adjustable alert volume
• Bug fixes

So far I am very impressed with the 1.1.1 release, though I do wonder what happened to 1.1.0. Maybe 1.1.1 just looks more cool. Perhaps the next version number could be something like 1.2.3 or 2.2.2.

I received a lot of feedback from people who were waiting to buy an iPhone until after it could be unlocked to run on T-mobile. Well, the price has dropped and the unlocking tools are out there now! So, how are you guys liking your iPhone? Is it everything you dreamed it would be and more? That is great!

Oh, wait... what is this? A press release from Apple today suggests a bumpy road ahead for anyone who has unlocked their iPhone. "Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software".

Erica Sadun at The Unofficial Apple Weblog has a great step by step instructions on how to relock your iPhone before the firmware update.

I have read several (1 / 2 / 3) posts recently discussing/predicting a new iPhone for the holiday season. While this seems totally reasonable, Apple should think long and hard about how and when they move forward with the next iPhone announcement (whatever it is).

Do you have any idea what would happen if Apple released a 16 GB iPhone with 3G support this year? Oh crap -- I hate even bring it up. The blog posts and comments we can expect to see after the announcement will go something like this:

Apple made several major announcements Wednesday including a completely refreshed line of iPods for the holiday season (and one more little thing).

• iPod shuffle $79. Color changes only including silver, green, blue, purple, and (PRODUCT) RED.
• iPod nano $149 for the 4GB silver only and $199 8GB available in silver, blue, green, black, and (PRODUCT) RED. The user interface has been updated to include more album artwork and Cover Flow. The display is brighter and a very high resolution. The nano is the most popular iPod and this design ensures that it will stay that way.
• iPod classic $249 for the 80GB and $349 for 160GB! The classic is available in The user interface was updated to be the same as the nano including Cover Flow. This iPod is smaller and now features an all-metal enclosure.
• iPod touch $299 for 8GB and $399 for 16GB. Why pay this much for an iPod that has only 8 or 16GB of memory? The key word here is touch. Think iPhone minus the phone. Multi-touch, Safari, YouTube, etc.

The iPod product line is looking very strong for this holiday season! So everyone is talking about these cool new iPods -- right? Well, a little bit.

This release appears minor enough that we almost skipped this post. Has anyone found anything worth noting in this release?

A popular DVD converting application HandBrake received a major update recently. The changelog for v0.9.0 includes features like speed improvements, more advanced settings, new presets (including iPhone), and an updated interface. While I am not an expert with video stuff, I do love a good software update!

Download the update here.

On August 7th Apple announced the release of iWork '08. While it can not replace 100% of the Office suite, it gets pretty darn close for most users. Also, the $79 price makes this an even more attractive option.

Keynote is an easy to use presentation program that provides similar functionality to PowerPoint.

The build transitions used to move, modify opacity, rotate, and scale elements are amazing and very easy to use. Just select an element from the slide, change a few properties, and boom! You have a custom A to B animation sequence.

Theme integration with the page elements is also very impressive. For example, shapes like arrows and boxes are automatically updated when changing themes (though tables are not).

This release includes new text effects and transitions, voice over recording, new themes, and instant alpha.

While playing with this application I couldn't help but think about creating a presentation so I could make use of it. Unfortunately, I haven't had any luck talking people into listening to my presentations so this application is going to be a toy for now.

Apple announced yesterday the immediate release of the new iLife '08 suite of applications. They have posted a guided tour that covers the latest enhancements at a high level.

Anyone who maintains a large collection of photographs will appreciate the new 'Events' feature in '08. Users will now enjoy automatic library organization (based on the date the photo was taken). Events that span multiple days can be merged. Days with multiple events can be split apart. I am hoping for improvements to keyword management.

I have created short movies using the pre-'08 version of iMovie application with rather disappointing results. The '08 release appears to be a complete re-write of this application -- which is great! The skimming feature (fast movie previews) and exporting features are amazing. I really hope this application works as it appears in the videos on apple.com!

There were a few items on our bug list that appear to be resolved, though they did not make it on an official change log.

What do you think are the most critical things Apple needs to address in the next update? New applications like a to-do list or audio recorder? Improvements to existing applications like colored iCal events or multiple recipient SMS? Better integration with PC's/Mac's such as Note syncing?

After weeks of telephone calls to the Apple store they finally said what so many have been waiting to hear... 'Yes, we have the iPhone Bluetooth Headset in stock'.

The design is amazing. The size is perfect -- not too big, not too small. The fit is surprisingly comfortable even after remaining in ear for more than an hour. The status light being hidden when not being charged is a nice touch (works like the iSight indicator light).

The paring process worked exactly as advertised. Just dock the headset and iPhone to the computer using the dual dock.

Yesterday while Googling for information on SMS plans I came across a forum at Cingular discussing a $5 (US) SMS plan. I called AT&T customer service and was told that no such option exists for the iPhone. Even after they researched my question further, I was told "The iPhone has it's own pricing plan that could not take advantage of this option".

Today we drove to our neighborhood AT&T store where they were eventually able to get us setup with this option. After asking the manager for assistance the sales person was able to update our iPhone plan. While waiting for the transaction to complete he said "it isn't as easy to add this with the iPhone packages, I had to fish around a bit to find it".

We wanted to take a few minutes to respond to a few comments (received via various forums and the contact form):

The bugs range from minor display issues to application crashes. All 68 are should be reproducible by every iPhone owner!

• Some of the steps required to reproduce unexpected results are obscure and may not occur during normal usage.
• We received several messages in response to a previous bug list we created asking what we were trying to accomplish by finding flaws in the iPhone. It is our thought that if we stumble upon an issue and Apple fixes it, then we will all have a better iPhone update!
• Each bug has been tested on two iPhones.
• While we interpret the following items as bugs, it is possible that the results are in line with the Apple iPhone User Interface design specifications.
• We have submitted these bugs to Apple.
• We will update this list with any additional bugs we find and can reproduce!
• Please feel free to add any bugs you have found to the comment section at the bottom of this posting.

We are still holding out for the Apple Bluetooth headset which, according to Apple, will be released this month. The details found on store.apple.com outline the extra items that are included with this accessory (an accessory with accessories). The package will include:

• iPhone Bluetooth Headset
• iPhone Dual Dock with attached USB cable
• iPhone Bluetooth Travel Cable

Considering that the cost of a replacement dock with travel plug is $49, the $129 pricing of this set seems very reasonable... and who wouldn't like an extra charging dock and travel plug (the original that came with the iPhone) to leave at work. It will also be nice to have a single dock/charger for both the iPhone and Bluetooth headset. Who needs more junk on their desk, not to mention using up another USB port for another accessory?

We have discovered an extremely effective method for downing the EDGE network using the iPhone! We have tested the following procedures four times with 100% success!

1. Find a friend who has yet to see an iPhone. EDGE will come down fastest if your friend is skeptical about the iPhone features and has been listening to you go on and on about it for 5 months.
2. Turn on your iPhone.
3. Disconnect or disable WiFi.
4. Show your friend any application on the iPhone that requires data features (YouTube for example).
5. Wait for about 20 seconds while the application brings the EDGE network down. That is it! You did it! EDGE is down.
6. Continue showing your friend the many features of the iPhone that do not require a network like the calendar, clock, and calculator!

A few days ago the OpenOffice Mac Porting team released the second development snapshot of the Aqua version of OpenOffice. We missed this announcement because we have been so caught up in all of the recent iPhone excitement.

Here are our thoughts for this snapshot:

• I am not a big fan of the drop down boxes that appear when selecting a background color, font color, or highlighting. Perhaps when the product is more stable they will convert this to a more standard interface that doesn't utilize separate pop-up windows.
• The grid in the spreadsheet application is difficult to read in this release. Changing the zoom level to 150% helps.
• The interface still lacks the polish found in Microsoft Office and other Mac/Aqua applications. Also, while it will be nice to have the ability to run OpenOffice on a Mac without X11, it still looks and feels like a Java application with a few Aqua controls. It appears unlikely that we will see a true smooth Aqua interface until the 3.0 release.
• At this stage of development, the porting team is focusing their efforts on fixing bugs that cause the program to crash rather than the visual elements -- which is a good plan.

It has been reported that Apple/AT&T have sold between 500,000 and 700,000 iPhones since being launched June 29th. What can we expect from Apple now that the iPhone is in so many hands?

• Leopard - Announced October release.
• iWork - Update to utilize Leopard features. Spreadsheet application?
• iLife - Updated to utilize Leopard features.
• .Mac - Updated to remain competitive with other online offerings.
• iPhone Updates - Enhancements and bug fixes (we will discuss current iPhone bugs in another article this week).
• iPhone SDK - Allow 3rd party development.
• The next iPhone - The iPhone will only remain a revolutionary device if Apple continues development on new hardware and software (our suggestions for the next iPhone will appear in another article).

Life is starting to return to normal again. Visiting the Apple store on Saturday was a much different experience than the previous day. There was a small group of 10-15 people playing with iPhones and another 5 or so wandering around the store.

Also, it appears that the activation issues that many customers were having are slowly being resolved by Apple and AT&T.

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.

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.

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?

How is Apple able keep products like the iPod and iPhone a (pretty good) secret until a planned press conference or keynote?

Apple is a relatively small company with 17,787 employees (compared to Microsoft's 71,000), but that is still a lot of people to keep under control. So what's with all the secrets? Two words -- competitive advantage.

The problem is that having secrets in-house spurs rumors just like those that exist outside a company.

Often when using my computer I need to know the current date. Normally it is for something simple like browsing a log and needing to figure out how many days have passed since an event occurred.

When I first started using a Mac (after many joyous years running Windows) I found myself looking down at the doc for the date. Oh there it is... July 17th. Wait a minute! That isn't today's date -- am I having computer problems? As it turns out this is the date in 2002 when iCal was released.

I have got to admit that given the opportunity to create a calendar program I would likely choose to force the icon date to something like July 17th. However, as a user of this system I desire something that is a little more significant in my life -- the current date.

After browsing the Apple Xserve site for a little while they have me sold! It really looks like a well designed product! So why is it we don't hear of more companies running this hardware? I have worked for two fortune 500 companies, and one with less than 50 employees. These businesses are extremely dedicated to maintaining large server environments, but the Apple product line is not even a faint blip on their radar. No workstations, no servers (I have seen a few iPods though).

It appears that anyone who speaks favorably about Apple or Apple products is labeled a "fanboy" or "drinking the Kool-Aid". Why is that? People who say "Oh, Microsoft Windows Vista this and that blah blah blah" are not assigned any derogatory labels. Lets face it, they aren't calling you names to build you up!

You are doing something that is viewed as different, and people are not encouraged to be different in our society. So, the labels are a method to get you back in line with the group. We won't make fun of you anymore if you re-join the group before it is too late.

Some may say that the "Hello, I'm a Mac" ads are to blame because supposedly the Mac guy portrays himself as being snobby and superior. So, the labels are used to dramatically put us in our place and show us that we really aren't all that.

Can you tell that we are excited about the iPhone release?

Here are a few feature requests we would like to see added to the iPhone at some point:

• The iPod application includes a handy volume control slider, but does not appear to include a method for changing the playing location of the current audio track (rewind/fast-forward/jump to point). This feature does appear in the video player.
• GPS with integration into Google Maps
• 3G. Not that it is available in my area, but some day it will be!
• Games. I often play solitaire on my Windows Mobile phone whenever sitting around waiting for things like oil changes and flights.
• Third-party software: The list of applications available for Windows Mobile and Palm is huge! I am sure many of the Mac developers out there would love the opportunity to develop/sell applications that run on the iPhone.

It is very likely that these issues have already been resolved, but here are my findings anyway! Oh, and most of these things are very picky and appeared in the Quicktime animations on the Apple web page. Probably not the preferred method of QA used by Apple staff! :-)

Whenever I pick through software in this way I always think to myself -- I hope no one ever makes a list like this for the applications I have created!

1. 1 hour, 23 minutes, and 30 seconds in to the Macworld 2007 Keynote Address (iTunes Podcast version): Steve Jobs summed up the iPhone features in a section titled "All together now". While listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers Steve receives a phone call from Phil Schiller. As expected the music fades out, the screen changes, and the phone rings. Steve continues showing off a real world situation of sending an email and looking at a web page. Perfect! The unexpected portion of the presentation occurs after Steve hangs up on Phil. The music fades in and the phone switches to the Voicemail view. Huh? Steve quickly (and smoothly) presses the "Home" button followed by the "iPod" icon. My guess is that after hanging up the device should have switched back to the iPod on its own.

When I started working with Linux about 5 years ago some technical experts I spoke with suggested that Linux/Unix OS's were superior to Windows in many ways, one reason being that software updates could be performed without rebooting. The end result is a system with uptime that can't be matched.

When I purchased my Mac I thought -- the next time I reboot this system will be after installing Leopard! Since then nearly every software update has required a reboot of the system to complete. Do the updates that Apple pushes out to our systems really require a reboot or are the patch engineers at Apple just playing it safe? Is it possible that the software update application doesn't have the ability to restart the necessary modules to fully update the system?

The Apple TV was delayed earlier this year (as I recall it was because a necessary update to iTunes was not ready to go). On April 12th Apple released a statement announcing the Leopard version of the Mac OS had been pushed back to October because they needed to pull some key software engineers to help with their iPhone product.

Does Apple have adequate staff to handle the demands of their current and future products? 3/4 of Apple's core product mix including iPhone and Apple TV are dependent on the Mac OS and some "key" software engineers. What happens when there is active development on all of these systems? Those key engineers aren't going to know which way to turn -- the Apple TV team will say "we need your help", and the iPhone team will say, "no, we need you". Apple's success will entice other manufactures to get in on the action, for example Microsoft with the Zune, LG Electronics with the "iPhone Killer" KE850 PRADA, and Netgear with the EVA8000, Most of us want to see Apple succeed, so lets hope they figure this out before it bites them in the butt again! :-)