Ipod Touch / Iphone

[Hopstretch]

iAd is seriously creepy.

Why? It doesn't look particularly intrusive and seems to offer the possibility of including genuinely useful information in advertisements.

[n_maher]

Why? It doesn't look particularly intrusive and seems to offer the possibility of including genuinely useful information in advertisements.

I don't think we have any idea just how intrusive the adds will be and I must admit that I'm a bit non-plussed by the idea of embedded adds in apps that already have a clear path to monetization (is that a word?). Are developers really scrambling for cash that badly? Or is it more likely that Apple just found their newest cash cow since they get 40% of the revenue?

I also suspect that many of these moves, multitasking for only the 3GS in particular, are simply Apple's way of trying to drive hardware sales via upgrades to older units prior to both introducing a new phone and expanding to multiple carriers.

Epic Fail on the lack of tethering too. Fuck you AT&T.

[The Monkey]

Why? It doesn't look particularly intrusive and seems to offer the possibility of including genuinely useful information in advertisements.

I think it's the "genuinely useful information in advertisements" that I don't necessarily agree with or like. That's not to say I like the ads the way they are now, but Apple's focus on how to more seamlessly interweave advertisements with the other things we use on our devices seems intrusive to me. Also, I'd like to know more about what kinds of data collection iAd is capable of, if any.

I the following Jobs answer during the Q&A is part of what I didn't like here:

"11:38AM Q: Are you concerned about leaving out your older customer base (with the lack of features for older devices). A: (Steve) Well, a lot of these products that are out there are the most recent products. The old devices will get the update, but they'll miss some of these features like multitasking. If that's an incentive for them to upgrade to a new device... terrific."

This update seems like an unabashed attempt to monetize the existing user base rather than just an OS update. And that of course is Apple's right and duty, I guess. But this presentation seemed to be directed more at marketers and app developers than end users. Whatever. I'll just get a new iPhone anyway.

[tyrion]

I gave some thought to going legit but unless I pick up a 3G iPad, I will stick with the JB on my phone. The only thing I don't have that I care about is MMS, which, if I were daring enough, I could have by upgrading to 3.1.2 and then JB again. I don't want to risk it so I live without the MMS. I'm sure the multitasking will be better using 4.0 but for my purposes, using Backgrounder is good enough. I may still get the 3G and just keep the JB for now so I can multitask.

[en480c4]

Hardware capability was my first thought with respect to multitasking as well... My 3GS is significantly faster than the GF's 3G, much to her dismay!

[Hopstretch]

I agree with that and suspect there is some pretty complex stuff going on on the device to make the switching look that simple. As far as iAd goes, from a business point of view it's a hell of a move. Apple gets a shot at being the Google of the mobile computing sphere while at the same time attracting more developers and further extending their lead in apps, which as Jobs casually noted are increasingly to smart phones what the Web is to PCs.

[The Monkey]

I agree that iAd is great for Apple and marketers. Call placed to Mrs. Monkey to get on it!

[Hopstretch]

Oh, by the way, Dinny, it looks like iAds will have access to location, accelerometer and all sorts of other good data, so get targeting!

[n_maher]

If were an Apple share holder I would be ecstatic with today's news.

As an iPhone user I'm decidedly wary about how iAds will be allowed to be used by developers. That's a "time will tell" type scenario but one thing that Apple has proven in the past is that they don't much care if you like the way they think you should like things... Furthermore my 3G does limited multitasking just fine, I can talk and surf, listen and surf, download and surf and a whole host of other things. I'm sure the new multitasking is more complex but it's not like it doesn't already happen on the 3G (and even older) phones. Slacker running the background would be nice, that's all I'm saying. My motivation to upgrade will be when my map can turn from blue to red and they slap the A4 processor in the 4G phone.

[Hopstretch]

Not too worried about the ads. Apple loves our lovely loot, yes, but they're also aesthetic snobs to the core and blinking banner-style bullshit is anathema to them. Predicting that the screen real estate ads can occupy and the manner in which they can behave will be tightly controlled.

[Hopstretch]

Also, they're not kidding about Flash!

Daring Fireball: New iPhone Developer Agreement Bans the Use of Adobe's Flash-to-iPhone Compiler

[blessingx]

In case you want to watch the keynote: Apple - QuickTime - April 2010 Apple Special Event

[The Monkey]

I think this Daring Fireball piece does a pretty good job of explaining the underlying theme(s) of the iPhone 4.0 OS keynote, which I was utterly unable to articulate.

[blessingx]

Approved! Opera Has Made It Into The App Store

[emelius]

liking it so far...mainly because it isn't safari...

[MexicanDragon]

? it's a complete turd compared to mobile Safari.

From what I understand... ^ This.

I'm not a fan of the iPhone, obviously, but their browser is top notch, best in the game. It has a few things I don't like, but I have despised Opera Mini every time I've touched it (though I haven't tried it on my new HD2 yet). I love Opera Mobile, though, from back in the day.

**BRENT**

[n_maher]

? it's a complete turd compared to mobile Safari.

Agreed. I downloaded it, tried it, deleted it.

• 2 level zoom, massive fail.
  
• Rendering everything through proxy servers, security fail.
  

[Salt Peanuts]

Thanks for bulleted info, Nate. Saves me the trouble of downloading it.

[The Monkey]

Agree with the fail points above. Deleting it asap.

[jinp6301]

The whole point of Opera Mini for iphone is that it DOES go through proxy servers so you dont have to process everything through the iphone. Doing it this way will reduce the time it takes to load pages since everything is preloaded at their servers. This makes a lot of sense for people who do not have 3G everywhere they go.

Obviously this is a security risk but you're exchanging security for speed. And yes, two level zoom does suck

[HeadphoneAddict]

With my old windows mobile phone Opera was the browser to use, but not with iPhone. The two level zoom is the worst feature, where on the full page view nothing is readable. I likely will only use it when all I have is a slow EDGE connection.

[blessingx]

At a conference ATM with spotty 3G and having Opera Mini around for these times is a plus in my book. No one would ever mistake it for an Apple designed app, but I don't see an alternative to its pluses for those rare times. I don't even consider it Safari competition as it's unlikely to be mosts primary browser on WIFI or strong 3G. There's a reason all the speed tests are on 2G (though like I said it's a plus on spotty/weak 3G too).

Opera Mini now the number one free download in all 22 App Stores -- Engadget

[penger]

Cablevision, Time Warner, Comcast announce agreement for free Wi-Fi roaming

Cool stuff for the New Yorkers?

[cetoole]

Cablevision, Time Warner, Comcast announce agreement for free Wi-Fi roaming

Cool stuff for the New Yorkers?

Sounds cool to me!

[The Monkey]

grrrr...Fios here.