On June 25, Walt was on “The Charlie Rose Show” to talk about the iPhone 4. In a wide-ranging interview, he covered various topics such as the current competitive landscape in the super-smartphone category, the iPhone 4’s biggest weakness with AT&T’s network, the debate between Adobe and Apple regarding Flash, and the future of paid content on the Internet.
Complete iPhone 4 Coverage »
Written by Walt Mossberg on June 29th, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on ATT and Apple and Charlie Rose and Microsoft and Mossblog and Walt Mossberg and google and iPhone and mobile.
Because of Apple’s draconian app regulations, the long app approval process, and the presence of an open-source competitor, the iPhone App Store is becoming increasingly unappealing for developers and users alike.
As a developer, you take a big risk developing for the App Store when Apple could reject your app for nearly any reason. Furthermore, Apple has a leash around its developers’ necks when it comes to the tools you can use to build an app. Sure, you can make an iPhone app, but you have to do it using Apple’s tools and you are forbidden by the Terms of Service from using private APIs or other programming languages, says one developer who claims, “Steve Jobs Has Just Gone Mad.”
Once you have developed the app, you have to put it on the slow-moving conveyor belt (i.e. the App Store approval process) and wait for it to get past all the inspectors inside. The rigid and unnecessary bureaucracy in the App Store becomes a barrier to production, and developers become frustrated. Guess where they go.
Android
The App Store Gold Rush is over. Just submitting an app to the App Store doesn’t guarantee a good return on investment. The costs of finding a developer are high because the permitted programming languages are limited and the payoff for producing an app is not guaranteed.
These obstacles translate over to iPhone users, who have to wait longer to get app updates and new apps.
Android, on the other hand, is very inviting. There are many ways to develop an application for Android. The number of phones running Android is increasing. And Google does not put its foot down like Apple and police content in the Android App Market.
Slowly but surely, the Android App Market is taking over. Unless…
Apple, Don’t Let it Happen
I love my iPhone. I think it is a marvel of engineering, and I think Apple is home to amazing designers. But while the iPhone is cool, Apple is becoming increasingly uncool.
Like a good mother does for her grown-up children, Apple needs to learn to let go of its customers and developers and let us be who we are. If developers want to develop something, let them develop it. The community will decide what’s good and what’s trash. And concerned parents will set parental controls on their children’s iPhones. And the world will be merry.
On June 7, when Apple announces the 4th gen iPhone, I will be crossing my fingers to hear Steve Jobs say he is doing away with the App Store approval process altogether while improving parental controls to let people monitor content for themselves or their children, rather than Apple doing the censoring.
The Future of iPhone
The future of iPhone depends on more openness. “Open” is the buzzword these days, and people like it that way. Given a choice, I believe people will choose the most open, unrestricted and free. And in the battle between Apple and Google, Apple is not the brand most people equate with “open.”
This is not merely a competition between two companies. It is a war of ideologies, and in the end, I believe openness will prevail.
Give me Liberty, or give me Death! – Patrick Henry
Do You Agree?
Is an open iPhone a better iPhone? Will Steve Jobs do away with the App Store approval process and give users the freedom to do what they want with their devices?
Will Steve Jobs Lift App Store Restrictions with iPhone 4.0? is a post from Apple iPhone Review.
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Written by iPhoneChris on May 24th, 2010 with no comments.
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Did you hear? Google marked the 30th birthday of Pac-Man by changing its logo to a playable game of Pac-Man. Go to Google.com, click “Insert Coin” (button replaces “Feeling Lucky”), and get playing.
What’s perhaps most cool about the Pac-Man game, though, is that it works reasonably well on an iPhone, since it runs on HTML5. If you browse to Google on your iPhone, you’ll be directed to a mobile version. To play the game, click “Classic” to go to the original homepage.
Although the sound is missing when you play on your iPhone, you can direct Mr. Pac-Man by swiping your finger across the screen in the direction you want him to move. Is this the future of games on the iPhone? Will HTML5 and other open web standards give developers the ability to bypass the App Store altogether and create fully-featured apps in the browser?
Let me know how you like the Pac-Man game!
Update: The Pac-Man game is no longer on the Google home page, but you can play still play it at Google.com/pacman.
Google’s Pac-Man Game Playable on iPhone is a post from Apple iPhone Review.
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Written by iPhoneChris on May 21st, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on google and iPhone Games.
The TomTom GPS app is the first navigation app I’ve used on my iPhone other than Maps. With turn-by-turn orientation, voice navigation and location-based features, TomTom is a definite upgrade. But there are some weaknesses to consider before you shell out $70 in the App Store for this iPhone GPS app. Continue reading my TomTom for iPhone review to learn more.
Disclosure: This app was donated to me free in exchange for a review. Sometimes I review donated products or apps that interest me. I do my best to be fair and objective. The FTC requires that I disclose my relationship with companies, and I agree that it is important to mention.
TomTom for iPhone Review
The first thing I noticed was how much more user-friendly the maps themselves are. Rather than a small blue circle on a static 2D map, TomTom shows you a big arrow that always points forward as a 3D map orients itself below. Whereas the Maps app shows you your location from a satellite’s perspective, the TomTom app allows you to see yourself as well as the road ahead at all times.
The second basic improvement over Maps is voice navigation, which helps you keep your eyes on the road as a customizable voice guides you through each turn. TomTom supports many different languages for its GPS app, including male and female voices in English, Spanish, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, Italian, French, etc.
iPhone’s default Maps app is certainly lagging behind, and the TomTom GPS app beats it in the basics. But how useful is TomTom for iPhone overall? Here are the pros & cons of this iPhone GPS app, according to my review of TomTom for iPhone:
TomTom for iPhone: Pros & Cons
Things I’ve observed while using TomTom for iPhone:
Strengths
- Turn-By-Turn Navigation
- Voice-Guided Navigation
- A dashboard at the bottom of the app tells you the remaining time and mileage to your destination, the distance and direction of your next turn, and information about your speed.
- The map can be viewed in vertical or horizontal orientation (I prefer horizontal). The default iPhone Maps app only lets you view maps vertically.
- Nearby gas stations appear on the map, so that you can anticipate places to refill your tank as you drive. You can also locate Points of Interest like Gas Stations, Hotels & Motels, Restaurants and Parking Garages either in your area or along your route. Like the iPhone’s default Maps app, TomTom also lets you search Google for other local destinations.
- A music control panel can be enabled to allow you to control your iPod as it plays in the background.
- TomTom lets you avoid toll roads if you choose.
Weaknesses
What did you think of this TomTom for iPhone review? Do you use TomTom for iPhone or some other iPhone GPS app?
TomTom for iPhone Review [iPhone GPS App Review] is a post from Apple iPhone Review.
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Written by iPhoneChris on May 8th, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on google and navigation and review.
With the release of the iPad, we have yet one more way to access our email. While the look and feel of the Mail app for iPad is good, let’s dig a little deeper into what’s good, what’s bad and what’s ugly (Hint: Gmail and saving messages).
The Good:
- Email looks great on the iPad. It [...]
Written by Jose Gutierrez on April 4th, 2010 with no comments.
Read more articles on Microsoft Exchange and Reviews and gmail and google and mail and sync.
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