Informal Brain

I only have one…. Apple TV.

I bet a dollar we will see an iPhone OS driven Apple TV platform within the next year. It is logical to consolidate to OSX (full Mac) and iPhone OS for their embedded products eliminating the Apple TV OS variant.

You could also bet we would then see the custom UI evolve on the Apple TV to be more like an iPad, and also support all the applications including Games on the Hi-Def TV.

[From Apple Plans To Run iPhone OS On New Platforms; Any Guesses? - Tech Trader Daily - Barrons.com]

A first look at the new case designed for the Apple Store to replace the aging symbol devices used as mobile point of sale units.

What I find really interesting is the application of this design to mobile warehouse, inventory and package scanning. It is still unknown who partnered with Apple to build the special case but I sure hope we see it marketed as an after market product. I can see all kinds of amazing possibilities at a much lower price point than current windows CE scanners.

Windows mobile first replaced Palm and MSDOS as the predominant handheld platforms. Next we will see OSX replace windows CE.

[From AppleInsider | Exclusive look at Apple's new iPod touch-based EasyPay checkout]

One of my co-workers showed up in my office today with his shinny new google android phone. I played around with it a fair bit and I much say I like the UI and the speed of the various applications. The time it takes for mobile safari and search boxes to become active on the iphone is painful. But I digress…

The android platform vs the iphone platform is starting to feel like a familiar battle. The battle between windows and OSX.

Let’s see, OSX was the operating system that could. It didn’t have all the fancy applications but it ran faster, and the core productivity applications were faster and better integrated into the core platform. Windows, had a million applications, and games but most of them were mediocre and were not well integrated into the core experience. Sound familiar?

Perhaps slow and steady will win the ultimate race here. Google might be in this battle for the long game, and in the fickle consumer market which is cell phones they might just have a better platform.

When I first heard about the new iPhone application called Keynote Remote during the Macworld presentation I thought to myself, how many times will a WIFI network be available where I am presenting? That might be a pretty serious limitation!

But tonight, I remembered that you can build an ad-hoc, Computer to Computer WIFI network from your Mac. And sure enough the Keynote and iTunes remotes hook up just over the ad-hoc network. Wow! That means I can remote control my Macbook in just about any setting with just a bit of setup. Very very cool.

I now believe the Keynote Remote and iTunes Remotes are some of the best applications for the iPhone!

Keynote from iWork ‘09

Keynote Remote for the iPhone showing the slide above with included speaker notes!

Things. a relatively new player in the GTD (Getting things done) application space has really impressed me with their simple to use desktop client and powerful iPhone application. The combination gives you your task list in your pocket when you need it most, and allows you to do the heavy lifting on your Mac. The synchronization feature between the iPhone and desktop applications works flawlessly over WIFI which is very nice.

A few of my favorite features:

1. Simplicity: The guys at Cultured Code really understand how to build a set of applications which embody simplicity. They choose to use tags rather then columns, and a simple Drag and Drop UI. Very nice.

2. Today: I love that I can just drop a task to the today item and it is ready to be acted on right now.

3. Areas: I can organize my tasks easily to my areas of responsibility.

4. Projects: I can group a set of tasks which will drive out the execution of a project. Works well when you have multiple tasks to complete to wrap up an effort.

5. Sync: I can synchronize the iPhone and Desktop versions of the application quickly over WIFI.

6. Drag and Drop: I can easily drag and drop tasks between the different GTD action types.

One of my favorite iPhone applications called Byline by Phantom Fish has just been updated to version 2.0.

What an impressive update!

Here are some of the highlights:

1. Folders: You can now see each of your Google Reader folders.

2. Clean, fast new interface: The interface has been cleaned up. Gone are the flat blues and now we have a cool wood grained view which is easy on the eyes. And did I mention faster! The entire application is much faster to load new items.

3. Notes: You can now write notes while sharing items just like in the web based google reader application.

4. Built in Web Browser: No more sudden swaps to Safari. Now you can browse inside the application without switching. This is a favorite feature because I would frequently hit a link by mistake and swap to Safari. No more.

Just another sign that IBM really “gets it” when it comes to iPhone security. I happen to work at a Lotus Notes shop and we have been taking a strong look at the iNotes Ultralite application for some time now. You may have seen some of my previous posts about the lack of enterprise level encryption for email on the iPhone. This is a show stopper for our company where we manage complex PHI (Personal Health Information) for our customers. We can’t afford to loose even one device (laptop, smart phone) which is not encrypted.

IBM is always concerned about data security for its customers, and as such they decided to make iNotes Ultralite a web app rather than a native iPhone application. IBM felt it was important to customers to insure that all communications between the iPhone and Lotus Domino server be encrypted, and that no data remain on the device in case it was lost or stolen.

[From iPhone in the Enterprise: Lotus iNotes Ultralite - The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)]

I suspect we will see a native Notes application for the iPhone or a plugin for the native Mail application in the future when encryption is available. Until then, IBM is delivering what we need right now.

Finally!  Version 2.0 of Facebook for the iPhone launched today.  Ever since I saw the totally amazing photo tagging demo on YouTube about a month ago I have been following the release date of this new version closely.  Today the wait is over.

Highlights:

1. Photo Tagging — Click, tag and go.  It is fast, and amazingly easy to tag a photo and get it posted.  This is simply the best photo sharing experience for the iPhone now.

2. Inline Commenting — This is a game changer for the level of interactivity within the Facebook newsfeed.  Now you can click on the small link beside pretty much any wall post, newsfeed item or photo and leave a quick inline comment.  Works very well.  Look out Friendfeed!

3. Chat — Works better then ever.  Looks just like iChat.  Nice job.

4. User Interface — Lots of subtle effects like fly-ins when posting make the UI really fun to use.

Improvements!

1. Quick scroll to the top of the page.  Steal this from Twitterific and Mobile Safari guys.  When you are way down a page it takes a bunch of finger swipes to get back to the top.

2. View Friends of Friends.  This is a nice feature which helps you pick the right person out of the crowd when searching.

Otherwise, again this is a GREAT upgrade.  Good job Facebook team.

Start your appstore checks! Facebook 2.0 is released! Review coming shortly.

This morning the screenshot for the Facebook iPhone application changed to a version 2.0 shot. The application is still 1.1 however. Keep refreshing. We should see the new version soon.