Gone in 31 seconds...

I remember how my ex-girlfriend loved to watch the "Gone in 60 seconds" movie which stars Nicholas Cage and Angelina Jolie whenever it's played in tv, me myself didn't really get what about the movie that excite her.

But upon reading the news about the burglary at Sagemore Apple Store in New Jersey a couple days ago, and after watching the video footage of the store's security camera, I think I'm beginning to understand...

Earlier this week, exactly on Wednesday, five burglars broke into the Sagemore Apple Store after smashing the glass door with a brick around 2:05AM and quickly clean up the Apple devices displayed in the store. They took 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPod Touches!

The burglars timed their break & entering plan right after the security guards made his rounds, they saw what they like, they entered the store, and then they all gone in only 31 seconds. Plain simple as Vini, Vidi, Vici...

Perhaps it has got somethin' to do with the excitement from rushing in and grabbing everythin' you can get your hands-on, maybe that's why women are so good whenever it comes to cleaning up the goods at the big sales... ;-p

But still, about those stolen MacBook Pros, iPhones and iPod Touches, I do hope Apple will be able to get them back in one way or another. Hopefully that "Find my iPhone" feature will finally come in handy for the company itself who made it, and let's just hope the thieves are not that stupid to bring the laptops to a Mac Genius Bar for repair. ~LOL~

A gigantic virtual keyboard in Snow Leopard signals Apple's tablet is imminent

Well, well, well.. will ya look at that.
That's an awful big-sized virtual on-screen keyboard even for a person with low eye sight, and what is it doin' in the new Mac OS X Snow Leopard?

If it's not enough with just rumors about Apple's tablet, then we finally have a solid proof that Apple is indeed have a tablet on the work, or in fact already prepared to launch as we speak. A senior editor at Cult of Mac, Leander Kahney has found what he calls it as virtual keyboard in Snow Leopard. Quoting from Leander himself: It’s a big, bold version of the iPhone’s virtual keyboard with large keys that scream “type me!”

Leander also reminded us how different the virtual keyboard now compared to the older version in previous Mac OS versions, which the old virtual keyboard usually hidden in the “International” tab of System Preferences, and obviously it was not as big as this new one. Snow Leopard's virtual keyboard now can be stretched as wide as your screen, and Apple doesn't even bother to hide it anymore, you can activate it through these steps:

• Go to System Preferences> Keyboard
• Click the box “Show Keyboard & Character Viewer in menu bar”
• Go to the menu bar at top right and click “Show Keyboard Viewer”

According to Leander; right now the new virtual keyboard just records the keystrokes on your physical keyboard and shows the characters that will be typed when the Option key is held down, and so on.

The huge virtual keyboard is not the only sign that Apple has prepared Snow Leopard to be used in touchscreen device, such as a tablet. Leander shows some good examples like how new features in Snow Leopard are more touch-friendly: "Look at Expose in the Dock — the new feature that reveals all an application’s open windows when you click and hold the application’s icon. It’s tailor-made for fingers. Even more convincing is Stacks in the Dock. Hit a folder icon in the dock, and up pops the folder and all its files."

That's true, lots of Snow Leopard's features have big icons (or windows). Sometimes we easily missed what is obvious in front of our eyes, and rather try too hard to see what is on the other side. Like for examples: Snow Leopard users now can see their files and documents in Cover Flow style, this again is fitting for finger-scrolling on touchscreen. The included new Safari 4 in Snow Leopard also features at-a-glance preview of users' Top sites up to 24 thumbnails on a single page, and making them accessible with just a touch.

Could these all be indicating that the Apple's tablet arrival is imminent?
Have you drool too much already, and enough to fill in a bucket? ;-p

If not, then perhaps the images above can be an assistance for you. Made by Seb_or_Sam (Flickr link), is Apple's tablet mockups of how it would work. Of course, there are some pros and cons, there are some likes and dislikes, but nevertheless the mockups help to make us dream more of the Apple's tablet.

Why a tablet, Apple?

Tired of hearing the rumored Apple's tablet?
If yes, then you ain't seen nothing yet. We're only half way to the next month Apple's [music] event, as we're nearing the September 9 (if the rumor is to be believed), you'll be seeing / hearing more rumors and topics about Steve Jobs' greatest next invention.

So today is no exception, like yesterday I'll be talking some more about Apple's tablet. Apart from that, what is the better way to tease you guys with those drool worthy images of how the tablet might be, than by keep talkin' about it over and over and over and... ~LOL~
Previously I've talked about what we know so far about the Apple's tablet, and if the deadline to introduce the device has got something to do with how many Steve Jobs' spare lives left, but the biggest question still remain: Why a tablet?*

* Note: the following discussion (ranting is more likely) only assume that Apple is indeed working a tablet computer for the Sep. 9 event

If you watched the latest PATV, Sammy was talking about the Apple's tablet too and his reason on why he much prefer a MacBook Pro rather than a tablet is a spot on. Many of you must've also agree at some point and wondering on why would Steve Jobs pick a tablet as the incarnation of his next idea to change the world, so we to speak. With the big wide blank space left out cold lying somewhere without answer, let's have some fun by trying to assess the posibilities and try to burrow inside the unfeasible mind of Steve Jobs.

The survey says...

According to a new survey conducted by Retrevo (via AppleInsider), an electronics product review search service; 34% of 300 students surveyed said they prefer "small lightweight netbook," while only 17% are planning to buy an Apple MacBook, the rest said they're going to get PC laptop. This is an obvious and clear sign that netbook is gaining popularity in the academic circle, a society which is populated by 20-something crowd, the age of consumers that are most likely to buy an Apple MacBook because of its "coolness".

In the contrast of high-priced MacBooks compared to the low budget netbooks, Apple need to act fast to attract that 20-something crowd back to its embrace. Analysts believe, tablet is Apple's answer, and it will become a very different device (from other similar devices) that will target a very niche market. Something Apple loves to do.

But on the contrary, Apple dislike survey and never did market research (that we know of). “We do no market research. We don’t hire consultants”, said Jobs in an interview with Fortune magazine. "But we never hire consultants, per se. We just want to make great products.”

Because for Steve Jobs, there's only two kinds of product he acknowledge: amazing product or trash. There's no in between, there's no a so-so product for him, it's either a good end result (for him) or simply just trash. That's why he often taunt his engineers to create the impossible, and sent them back to the drawing board again to start from scratch if he sees something he doesn't like. And for that very reason, Jobs believes that the customers are paying Apple's gadgets for the right price.

If the price is right...

With the global economy crisis slowly past us all, yet still leave an unsecure financial feeling behind, and the irresistible price of netbooks looming restlessly on Apple's most potential buyers, I don't think Apple is only planning to sit pretty and do nothing. That is just not right for the company who has won Fortune's Most Admired Companies this year for its innovation, there's got to be something brewing at Apple's kitchen...

But here's one small fact; no matter how good Apple make their Macs, price is still the crucial part on deciding to buy a laptop, especially for students with limited budget. Money talks, but not the way the saying is originally intended. But Apple still won't make a computer under $500 price tag, Steve Jobs even has said something like this when he was asked about netbook's attractive price: "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that."

That's why rumor has it the Apple's tablet will costs around $700 or above, even though Apple is going to positioned its tablet against netbooks. The tablet itself along with the price tag will fill in the gap between the iPod Touch and cheapest MacBook, creating another option for users to pick according to their need.

What a tablet can do?

Let's toss aside the "coolness" factor that we know for sure the netbook's can not and will not compete with Apple's tablet, and while we're at it let's also throw away for a moment the price tag predicament that we know for certain Apple's tablet price can not be the same and will never be under netbook's. With those two factors out of the picture, the only remaining left is the features comparison.

The first idea of netbook is as simple as its name; it's only for surfing the web, email, chatting, read/compose documents, and all other light tasks that don't need powerfull hardware. And as long as the users are not using netbook for heavy multi-tasking, it's not designed for that. All because of the netbook's design, it must be small and lightweight so it'll be easy for users to carry netbook.

A tablet's design is pretty much close to the netbook's I've just described above, in fact a tablet has to be better since there's no physical keyboard attached to it. A tablet is smaller and more lightweight than a netbook, thus it's unlikely to be more powerful than a netbook. And let's not forget Apple's multi-tasking policy in iPhone/iPod Touch: there's no multi-tasking allowed. Combining them all, a tablet will have to rely more on the "cloud" to do more tasks.

If the "cloud" is the limit...

The netbook popularity marks a new dawn of how people use their mobile computer, and it's going up onto the cloud computing. Apple realized this very well, that's why the company is building a gigantic new data center in Maiden, North Carolina. So big, that Rich Miller the editor of Data Center Knowledge called it as "a big-ass data center.”

“The companies that are building the biggest data centers tend to also have the biggest cloud ambitions,”says Miller. And that is for a very good, and also for a very BIG reason. Apple is selling more and more iPhone and iPod Touch every year, App Store is growing larger every day, Push Notification needs more power to move around the cloud. And with the coming of a new family member into the products line-up, Apple must think of expanding its cloud services. It's only natural, a family always move to a bigger house when a baby is coming, or expand the house to make room for the new offspring.

We all familiar with how Apple do its business, there's no way Apple is only planning to sell its tablet just like that without any new features in it that will make it more than just an ordinary tablet amongst the existing similar products in the market. For all we can imagine, it's possible that Apple is preparing some kinda cloud services to compete with Google.

The search giant company is the biggest threat to Apple, all of you remember how Apple blocked Google Voice app in App Store, and now the issue is currently being investigated by FCC. The Google Voice app can turn iPod Touch into an iPhone, because of the VoIP service provided by Google. The aforementioned app basically eliminates the main thing that differentiate iPod Touch from iPhone: voice call, no wonder AT&T is so pesky about the app existence.

While on the other hand, there's a theory that Apple blocks Google Voice app because the company wants to have similar service pre-installed within the tablet, avoiding such trouble with AT&T and FCC, since the device is physically different from iPhone/iPod Touch.

Killing two birds with one stone...

But wait, can't the iPod Touch do everything the tablet can do?
To tell you the truth, from what I've talked so far above, all in all if I may say: Apple's tablet will most likely like a giant iPod Touch but with bigger body and larger screen. It can do pretty much the same of what iPod Touch can do already.

So far Apple has keep improving and adding more features into the iPod Touch, blurring even more of its function from an entertainment mobile device or a PDA. But what is the difference of iPod Touch from its siblings, the other iPods? The big wide screen of course, its a better solution for people who wants to watch a movie or read an e-book on iPod but the screen is too small.

And there's also a problem of storage, every iPod line-ups including the Touch have limited storage capacities. The biggest capacity iPod Touch got is max at 32GB, it's barely enough to fit in one or two HD movies. A tablet has more space inside to host bigger storage capacity, along with bigger battery, hopefully. So with a tablet, Apple hopes to give an ultimate entertainment mobile device which can perform as PDA as well. In short, Steve Jobs is going to "kill two birds with one stone."

Love it or hate it?

Then where does that leave us with the Apple's tablet? Like it, or hate it? Or perhaps you don't vote? Hear... hear... If your choice is the latter, maybe it's because you haven't seen the device yet. Same here. Previously, there's a live shot of the purpotedly Apple's tablet circling around the blogosphere, it was coming from a French blog. But I don't believe it's the real deal, since the device is so not Apple-like quality design, it's lacking that "cool" minimalism aesthetic you see in every Apple's products.

Actually, for me the closest live photo shot of the highly rumored Apple's tablet was coming from Pocketables. The gadget blog received two sets of photos from an anonymous tipster showing an unidentified MID that runs Android OS, but when you see it closely (pictured above) it does have some similarity to Apple iPod Touch. Such as the silver/chrome finish of the mysterious device's round bezel, and the dark glossy screen reminds me of the MacBook's screen. Could it be the real deal?

Unfortunately we'll have to wait few more weeks till Apple's rumored September 9 event to see the real tablet... *sigh*

Could it be Steve Jobs' health linked to Apple's tablet deadline?

There's a riveting story around the blogosphere last night, as I was climbing into my comfy bed and tried to doze off to sleep with reading the latest news on my Trēo™ 750v, I read another article that covers Apple and its psychedelic CEO Steve Jobs.

Bryan Appleyard from U.K. Times Online (yes, his last name alone can easily fooled you like he's from Apple Inc. ~LOL~) has wrote an article that caused quite a buzz, it's not because his writing reveals hidden dark secrets of Apple that we haven't know already or telling us how "obnoxious" Steve Jobs is. But the reason is because Apple was trying so hard to block the article to be published, here's a quote from the article:

Apple hates personality stuff and press intrusion. “We want to discourage profiles,” an Apple PR tells me stiffly, apparently unaware she is waving a sackful of red rags at a herd of bulls. Another PR rings the editor of this magazine to try to halt publication of this piece.

Aside of how the witty words twisted with sarcastic humor managed to keep my sleepy eyes wide open, a blazing speculation stroke inside my tired mind when I read this particular information in the article:

Rumours suggest he is, in spite of the transplant, about to do it (Apple keynotes) again in the next few weeks. It will be a dual sensation: the sight of a walking, talking Jobs and of a new tablet computer, a sort of giant iPhone, which, some say, will yet again change the world.

If we are to believe the credency of the article's source that says: Excitement intensified early this month when an unnamed "analyst" was reported as having actually held the tablet. He said it was "better than your average movie experience", and we are to believe the Apple's tablet is to be introduced at next month Apple's September event, then just take a moment of pause to think about it...

First of all, Steve Jobs never missed an important key notes and the only stopping him from standing on the stage is because of his health issues. Secondly, Apple's tablet is supposedly to become the next great thing after iPhone. In the article, Bryan Appleyard describes how Apple has changed the world when Steve Jobs introduced iPod families and the all wonder iPhone. In fact, Andrea Cunningham, a PR hired and fired four times by Jobs has said this about the Apple CEO: “My God! He’s single-handedly changed the world, like, at least three times!”

Third and the upmost delicate inquiry is how well Steve Jobs? Apple has been keeping its CEO's health issues as low as possible from the mass media, and so does Jobs himself. He was dead at least a couple of time before, first when he was diagnosed had a pancreatic cancer, second when he had to undergone a liver transplant in which to get one means you must on the top of the death list.

When Jobs took an absence of medical leave on January this year, he swore to every Apple loyalists out there that he will still be working at home and make all of the important decisions for Apple, and even without mentioning it we all know he's watching over his next biggest project: the Apple's tablet. A project that was certainly stalled because of his health issues at that time.

I dunno if Steve Jobs has nine spare lives (which is only 7 left if we took account of above almost death experiences) in his closet, or if he has the uncanny ability to cheat death itself, but don't you think at this point at least he's thinking like: how about if I don't make it the next time around when the grim reaper comes to visit me again? If so, don't you think Jobs is thinking that he should hurry and announce one of his latest brain-child gizmo before the time really is running out? After all, the Apple's tablet is supposed to be another Jobs' creation that will change the world, so we speak...

I'm not saying nor wishing bad things to happen to Steve Jobs, but even though I'm not an Apple fanboy, I still wish to see him to wow us all again with his usual spectacular keynote. And I believe the Apple stock holders can't be agree more than to see Jobs introduce a gadget that will make all of geeks and Apple fanboys to queue over night to get it, an Apple device that still have Steve Jobs' signature on it and that will last long enough even if an "unwanted" situation happened.

All of us are in favor to see the mysterious and highly rumored tablet at Apple next event, an event that has been reported by John Paczkowski from All Things D that according to sources close to the company, the date is Wednesday, Sept. 9. But again the source emphasis that there will be "NOT involve any discussion whatsoever of the tablet Apple is reportedly developing."

But hey, don't take my words or any rumors for granted. Because like Bryan Appleyard has wrote in his article about Apple's 'mafia code of silence': "Executives feed deliberate misinformation into one part of the company so that any leak can be traced back to its source," as far as we know it Apple could be giving misinformation of there's no tablet involved on the next September event. Like the company did before when asked if there will be a small and cheap iPod, the next day Steve Jobs introduced the Nano.

That's the hard thing about Apple is, the Cupertino-based company is not affraid of lying and giving out misinformation, which is why Apple has always been a favorite target for journalysts to write about. No joke, a $140 billion dollars worth company who is not affraid to lie to the press, how twisted and cool is that? ;-p

Because one we're certain of, Apple has been caught red-handed on shooting an ad at Jax Truckee Diner some time ago (pictured below). “Apple found us, they're trying to show us as a hip and cool spot for the 20-something crowd,” the owner Bud Haley said. But looks like anyone involved in the ad shoot were sworn to a secrecy on what the ad is for.

For all we know, the new ad shot at the restaurant which is located “At The Tracks” on 10144 West River St., California, could be for any new products including this Apple's tablet. Or it may also for the most likely rumored new iPod Touch with camera, which has been leaking out on the net for the last couple of days ago.

Whatever Apple has prepared in store for us on September 9, I believe it'll be a blast no matter what, because the real caveat is to see Steve Jobs back on the stage once again and when the keynote is about to end he'll end it with the usual “and one last thing”, and then like a child we will once again drop our jaw seeing the new shiny toys... ;-D

Chiming in about Apple's tablet

Everybody have their own opinion about the rumored Apple's tablet, it's the hottest topic around right now. Whenever the subject pops out, it attracts everyone's attention right away. Ranging from analysts to bloggers, they have been adding the fuel to keep that rumor mill churning up and burning for months. So at the end of the day, I can't help but to chime in my little squeaky voice about the anticipated yet never-existed (as far as we know it in real life) tablet device...

The facts or simply just rumors?

On early August, Kaufman Bros. a Wall Street analysis firm revealed that Apple had investigated screen sizes ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches. What for? Well, what else than for a tablet sized computer.

And not long after that, Piper Jaffray the senior analyst Gene Munster chimes in about the possibility of Apple's tablet: "Last week we spoke with an Asian component supplier that has received orders from Apple for a touch-screen device to be fulfilled by late [calendar year] '09," he writes. "This data point underscores our thesis that a tablet will likely launch in early [2010]."

Apart from the excitement of another highly rumored Apple event to be held on September, many have raised some voice about how the tablet won't even be announced at the event, in fact it's planned for early 2010.

The tablet is a no go for September event?

For those who have been keeping records of Apple events over the past four years, it is highly possible that Apple will hold a keynote event in early September like it did before. MacRumors has done us a favor by reminding us of the events in the past:

• 2005: Apple’s “Here We Go Again” event introduced the Motorola ROKR mobile phone with iTunes support alongside the release of iTunes 5 and saw the introduction of the original iPod nano to replace the iPod mini.
• 2006: Apple offered the “It’s Showtime” event introducing iTunes 7 and iPod updates, as well as a sneak peak at the “iTV” that launched several months later as the Apple TV.
• 2007: Apple held a “The Beat Goes On” event introducing the original iPod Touch alongside updates to the remainder of the iPod line, an iTunes 7.4 update, and iPhone price drops.
• 2008: Apple held a “Let’s Rock” event to introduce iTunes 8 and new iPod Touch, Nano, and Shuffle models.

The similar event, if it does happening next month, will focus on music and entertainment. Jim Dalrymple from Loop Insight added in his point of view:

"Very reliable sources familiar with the product have said speculation of the tablet being introduced during the September event are flat out wrong. The Apple tablet, they said, would not see the light of day until the first part of 2010.

The event in September will be focused on music, which means we could see new iPods and perhaps some updates to iTunes. The tablet computer will not even be mentioned as part of the event, my sources said."

That is one disheartening rumor to be heard. One can only speculate that the tablet could not be announced at the September event because Apple is going to announce the all new iPod Touch with camera (also rumored) to compete with Microsoft's new Zune HD. But this is Apple we're talking about here, Steve Jobs could even introduce both the new iPod Touch and the tablet at the same time next month. You know how his mind work; unfathomable...

What is a tablet for?

That is a very basic question for everyone, including Apple themselves and end-users. Because the current tablet computers I know in the market today are not doing so well, but most of them are Windows-powered. So Apple ought to think how to turn around the mistakes made by Microsoft (and Linux) to market a failing category of mobile computing, Apple should have more tricks in their sleeves to impress the nowadays greedy consumers.

Again, Piper Jaffray the Senior Research Analyst at Gene Munster states in a report about the use of Apple's tablet:

"Key apps, like Safari and Mail, could be made larger to make use of the larger screen resolution, making Apple's tablet appealing for more extended use, and the company could continue to leverage its primary asset in mobile computing, the App Store, in this scenario. We believe this is the most likely scenario given the success of the multi-touch platform and the App Store ecosystem, which could be accelerated with a tablet device."

All in all, the tablet will be used primarily for web surfing, e-mail, and digital media, competing with netbooks without being a netbook. That is in rhyme with Steve Jobs' statement about netbooks: "We don't know how to make a $500 computer that's not a piece of junk, and our DNA will not let us ship that." So Apple is going to make a mobile device that works close like a netbook, but doesn't look like a netbook and obviously won't call it as a netbook.

Look and name can be different, but the guts inside can bring close the similarity. Jason D. O'Grady from The Apple Core blog said he has received a leak from a source back in May:

"According to my source said tablet could arrive in the September or October, it will run the full Mac OS X, have a slot loading SuperDrive, an “iPhone-type” GPS chip and an Intel Core Duo processor – presumably Intel’s Atom."

Speaking of hardware specifications, Apple has already arrived to the point where it can make a gorgeous tablet computer. Apple has managed to put in so many small sized hardwares into constrainted and limited space in almost its product line-ups. Take MacBook Air for an instance; all Apple need to do is replace the screen with multi-touch display like the one used in iPodTouch, flip the thin display to always face upward, remove the hinge, remove the keyboard and then voila! You got yourself an Apple tablet.

O'Grady goes on saying that a tablet is perfect for student to take to school, because it's "a Kindle-killer and the ultimate eBook reader." Then comes in a backing rumor from Gizmodo, where its Editorial Director Brian Lam received a phone tip from an insider at Apple which stating that the tablet "will come in two editions, one with a webcam and one for educational use."

The tipster continue and said that the tablet "would cost $700 to $900—More than twice as much as a netbook." That does sound very Apple-like devices, the high price tags. But to put that kinda price tag for students, or for educational use device? That's a pretty steep price for average students, I suppose if that's the price then Apple is targetting a very niche consumer market...

I don't want to argue if that's a wise decision or not for Apple to market a tablet, because the Cupertino-based company has done wonders of its products while the competitors are still trying to figure out why and how.

The look that can kill

There's nothing more intriguing and appealing than a new gadget with its new sexy look, any Apple fan-boys are willing to kill to have a first look of the tablet, literally speaking. BGR has stated that there are around 3,563,849th images of Apple’s tablet so far in the net, but it got one that is close enough to the real deal.

Unlike the others, which are mostly only generated from computer graphic rendering, the photo above looks to be showing the Apple tablet in real life. A French blog has posted up the photo, but not saying anything of its origin nor its source. Nevertheless, the photo shows almost everything like the tipster has said to Gizmodo:

"The device, which I've held mock ups of, is going to have a 10 inch screen, and when I saw it looked just like a giant iPhone, with a black back— although that design could change at any time" they said, "with the same black resin back, and the familiar home button."

If that is the real thing, then although I can't speak for everyone, it's quite dissappointing. Not exactly what we have in mind, especially when you've seen Jesus Diaz's (Gizmodo) "wet dream" concept of his own iTablet.

But what do I know, right? I'm not an Apple analyst, even the real ones were often wrong. As for me; the iTablet, or iPad, or whatever Apple will call its tablet is just like a giant iPod Touch. If the Apple's tablet look is just like how Jeroen (Flickr link) pictured it at the top of this post, then that's enough for me to buy one. ;-D

Confirmed: Steve Jobs is back!

It's hard to imagine Apple without Steve Jobs, so when the Apple CEO took an absence of medical leave on January many have missed him since, including his frenemies (read: friends and enemies).

And the rumor has it that Steve Jobs has undergone a liver transplant two months ago, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The hope to see the psychedelic CEO back in action was getting thinner, thin as his latest physical appearances.

But rejoice, you Apple stock holders and fan-boys! Because a Reuters reporter has spotted Steve Jobs leaving the Apple campus in Cupertino, California dressed in his trademark black turtleneck and jeans: "He walked out chatting with another person before climbing into a black car that then drove off."

And signs of Steve Jobs come back has also been confirmed by CNBC's Tech Check: Jim Goldman; "Steve Jobs did report to work today, as I suggested in an earlier post, at Apple's Cupertino headquarters, according to employees who have seen him on campus."

The Apple CEO has been expected to come back before when he also been cited in Apple's last press release to announce that the company has sold more than 1 million iPhone 3G [S] in the first three days since its launch, "Customers are voting, and the iPhone is winning," Jobs said in the statement.

"This is the first time we've heard from Steve Jobs since he reported he was taking medical leave," said Oppenheimer & Co analyst Yair Reiner as quoted by Reuters. "It's a sign Apple has its CEO back."

So Steve, welcome back ol' buddy. We missed you. And since you've came back and take everything back into your own hands now, when will we ever see those rumored MacTablet or MacNetbook we've been hearing lately...? ;-D

When Palm and Apple play a poker game

In a poker game, you must answer to the call when your opponent is bluffing, otherwise you'll be forced to fold your cards and that means end of the game for you.

It all started back then before the Palm Prē™ itself was launched all across the U.S. on June 6th, to be exact was at All Things D conference when Walt Mossberg asked Palm's executive chairman Jon Rubinstein what lessons from Apple has Rubinstein brought to bear on his new work at Palm? Rubinstein's answer was:

“I worked with Steve for many years and learned a tremendous amount from him, the value of user experience and design–taste. I also learned the idea of great marketing…On the engineering side, I helped create the engineering culture at Apple, so obviously, the engineering culture at Palm bears some similarities to it.”

And apparently Rubinstein has brought his engeneering skill in the past as the head designer of Apple's iPod division to create more than similarities for the Prē™, still at the conference when the big demo screen showed the Prē™ instantly sync with Apple's iTunes, Rubinstein dodged questions from Mossberg over how Apple might feel about the sync capability. But then later after the conference, he conceded: "We designed Palm Media Sync to be an easy and elegant way for you to take the content you own and put it on Prē™."

Proves began to emerge showing that in order for the Prē™ to be able to sync with iTunes effortlessly, Palm must disguise the Prē™ as an iPod so then iTunes will think it as one of its own and sync. According to Jon Lech Johansen's blog the co-founder of doubleTwist; when the Pre is in “Media Sync” mode it identifies itself as an Apple iPod, however it’s only the Mass Storage interface that identifies itself as an iPod. So Apple can very easily update iTunes to block the "Media Sync" in Prē™.

That's a very risky plan for the Prē™, Palm's new hope and savior. Dare I say that Palm is desperate? There's another way to look at this, the iTunes has became so big that dominates the music industry including movies and people are actually accepting this simple fact just like that. Even Roger McNamee also said this during the All Things D conference: “We’re recognizing their market dominance…and they can’t tell people what to do with their music."

So why should Palm try to trump over iTunes dominance, and start a new service from the scratch to compete with it from the already depleted resources? It's easier to piggy-back the widely popular and well spread iTunes, than fight against it. And with Jon Rubinstein's knowledge of how iPod and iTunes works, things look a lot easier for Palm to do that.

Apple initates the first bluff

On last Tuesday, Apple posted up a technical note that warns about no guarantee is given to unsupported third-party digital media players:

"Apple is aware that some third-parties claim that their digital media players are able to sync with Apple software. However, Apple does not provide support for, or test for compatibility with, non-Apple digital media players and, because software changes over time, newer versions of Apple's iTunes software may no longer provide syncing functionality with non-Apple digital media players."

The timing of the note, and the words in it are clearly although not directly pointing at the Palm Prē™ media syncing with iTunes.

Palm calls on the Apple's bluff

To respond Apple's passive tech note, Palm's spokesperson Lynn Fox (a former Apple employee herself) spoke up aggressively to All Things D's John Paczkowski:

“If Apple chooses to disable media sync in a future version of iTunes, it will be a direct blow to their users who will be deprived of a seamless synchronization experience. However, people will have options. They can stay with the iTunes version that works to sync their music on their Prē™ , they can transfer the music via USB, and there are other third-party applications we could consider.”

It's actually a rather quick respond coming from Palm camp regarding the media sync matter, because it is too soon to know if Apple really is going to cut off the Prē™ ability to sync with iTunes or not. Like you, I also have been waiting if Apple is giving a respond back to Palm, or better yet maybe Apple will release a new version of iTunes that breaks the sync harmony of the Prē™. But it's already end of the weekend, and it's all silent and quiet...

Why mad at Palm and not to others?

"I bet there will be some legal maneuvering by Apple over this," said Jack Gold an analyst at J. Gold Associates. "Apple protects everything." (via PC World) Yes, sure Apple wants to protect its intellectual properties like when Apple threatens to do so about its iPhone multi-touch patent. And now this, but the question is why it has to be Palm again?

Why is the mother of all question, so before we get into the Palm part let's understand that there are already several sofwares out there to help non-Apple devices to sync with iTunes, then why would Apple mad at Palm instead of those softwares in the first place?

Is it because Palm Prē™ ability to sync directly from the device itself? Is it obviously the Prē™ introduces itself as an iPod to iTunes and Apple don't like that? Nope, the answer is much simpler than that. It is because Palm is the very reason itself, it's because from all of the big companies out there Apple sees Palm as one of them who could actually become a serious threat in the future. Especially when Jon Rubinstein is now appointed as the new CEO, replacing Ed Colligan the longest running leader of Palm.

It's not about who will win...

What exactly will Apple get if the Cupertino-based company really take the matter further, for an example by eliminate Palm Media Sync method in newer iTunes versions? First of all, Palm or any other companies / softwares will always find another way to sync with iTunes anyway. I don't think Apple want to burden its head with headaches of playing a game of cat-and-mouse, it's not worth the troubles.

Secondly and perhaps the most important result Apple should've thought of, is how the above action will make Apple look like a big bad company who bully others. This could really hurt Apple's image, while Palm will have the opposite result. Apple definetely don't want that to happen.

And how about Palm, what will it get with all of this? It's none other than sharing the spotlight with Apple, Palm is getting more attention again from the blogosphere and the company really need it to boost its stock share. It's a win-win situation for Palm; get a smooth media sync with iTunes and receive lots of coverage while doing it. But Apple also get the same attention from this.

For both companies, it's not about winning this trivial matter, but getting the most out of it while it lasts. And like playing a poker game, one needs to raise the stakes when the other is bluffing, and the remaining question is how far will the stakes go...?

Source is from Dan Moren - Macworld.

Counting down (2 days left) to WWDC '09: "The Cure for iPhone Envy" funny ad at Apple's SF store

Here's something to laugh at, after all of those stresses from waiting the day WWDC '09 to arrive on June 8th the day after tomorrow; a funny ad is placed under Apple's San Fransisco store at One Stockton street and it reads: "The Cure for iPhone Envy." (pictured above)

The billboard ad belongs to a person called as DVD Jon (real name Jon Lech Johansen), who happens to be the co-founder of doubleTwist. For you who don't know yet, doubleTwist is a software that allows non-Apple devices to be connected and sync with iTunes. The software is legal, but of course you know how Apple feel about it. Wait a second, then how did doubleTwist ad ends up right next Apple's SF store entrance and underneath the Apple gigantic logo?

This is where DVD Jon's clever mind took place: the billboard ad space is actually own by BART (the Bay Area’s commuter transit system) and he simply rent it to advertise his doubleTwist software. This is a perfectly legal action, just like the software itself, and there's nothing Apple can do about it. TechCrunch (via Valleywag) is reporting: "We’re hearing that Apple employees are currently scratching their heads as to how this appeared." ~LOL~

If Steve Jobs really is going to make a surprise come back at WWDC '09 event tomorrow, then his employees should do something about this before he sees this doubleTwist ad. Somebody's job is going to get cut off by Jobs soon...

* Note: Is it just me, but when I first saw the billboard ad, I thought the spoon is Palm Pre™... Maybe I stared too long at Palm Pre™ pictures from all of those reviews, but the spoon's shape really close in resemblance to the Pre™ lines of body, no? ;-p (I've included the side view of Palm Pre™ below for comparison...)

An encrypted fashion advice from Apple support

These days you gotta have to be an 'Apple genius' or a real hardcore Apple fans in order to decrypt the messages coming out from the Cupertino-based company, and one of the latest resolutions from Apple support regarding the recent static shock that comes from iPhone/iPod earbuds is just another example.

Users have been complaining the experience of a small and quick electrical (static) shock from their earbuds while listening to iPod or iPhone, the grumbles are pouring all over at the company's support site thread.

"I get a small shock in my right ear only when I am on the treadmill at the gym. Really weird!" said one user. Other user also wrote: "Maybe it's just me but for a couple of weeks now my earphones are delivering little electric shocks into my ears."

Apple quickly respond at its support page by explaining that the condition does not necessarily indicate hardware issues with the iPod, iPhone, or earbuds:

This condition is very similar to dragging your feet across a carpet and receiving a static shock by touching a door knob.
Static buildup on your electronic device is largely due to the environment that it is used in. Certain environments and actions can encourage static electricity buildup:

• Very low humidity (dry) environments are conducive for static buildup.
• Very windy environments are conducive for static buildup.
• Taking your device in and out of your pocket can create a static charge.
• Jogging or exercising with your device can cause a static charge.
• Clothes made with synthetic fibers (like nylon) can easily become charged with static electricity.

Apple offers some methods to remedy the condition such as suggesting users to try wear different clothes with natural fibers, since synthetic fibers are more likely to hold a static charge. But this would mean that users are more prone to wet their iPhone or iPods, because clothing with natural fibers are easier to absorb sweat from sports excercise. Users should be aware of their devices' warranty, which has limited coverage on submerged condition.

That isn't the best part, an eagle-eye TG Daily writer Emma Woollacott spotted the fashion tip behind the particular Apple support on this static shock case: "Leave your iPhone/iPod in your bag or pocket." Apple's argument is because removing your device from your pockets frequently as rubbing the device on certain materials can cause a static build up. Well, for a function point of view that might be the right thing to do. But why would you want to conceal the cool device from everyone's sight, when the main purpose of getting it out from your bag/pocket is to show it off to everyobody. ~LOL~

But hey, perhaps you can pick one of this handmade iPhone felt-case, it's a handstitched case imitating the iPhone's stunning home screen. The $49.5 worth case is made from sheets of SOFT felt and measures 14.5 cm x 8 cm, covers almost every iPod and cell phones as said by the maker (via iPhone Savior). This way you can protect your iPod while keep on showing it off to everybody that you own and use an iPhone, or maybe you can fool everyone that you look like have an iPhone but instead use a lame 'dumb' phone inside it. ;-p

Interested? Too bad, as I'm writing this blog that handmade iPhone felt-case is already sold out... Dang! Better luck next time. Or in my case, better write it up faster next time.

Missouri students are told to buy Apple's products

While Microsoft is trying its hardest efforts to tarnish Apple's long reputation of being a maker of cool computers with the latest of its Laptop Hunters ad, on the other side of the world there's another little sales pitch which Microsoft should be worried about...

Missouri School of Journalism is apparently telling its students to buy Apple's computers, including the iPhone & iPod Touch in order to meet the requirement to study at MU (that's the short for Missouri University, not Sammy's favorite football club ~LOL~). At the university's website reads:

"Effective Fall 2009, students majoring in Journalism at Missouri are required to have either an iPod Touch (the minimum requirement) or iPhone to allow for the delivery of freshman-orientation information as well as course material. Students will electronically download such material to either of those devices from iTunes University, a no-cost component of the iTunes Store."

What's more, MU is recommending the students to purchase the required 'hardware equipments' at its own store called TigerTech:

"We strongly recommend that you wait and buy through TigerTech (formerly Computer Spectrum) at the University Bookstore. We have arranged for special low pricing from Apple, and that's where you'll almost certainly get the best deal."

MU tries to explain the reasons on why the university chose Macs over PCs, which I think will cause Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer have a heart attack if he read them:

"Yes, the device is a music player, but it is much, much more. TigerTech estimates that 90 percent of Missouri students have iPods. We are trying to take advantage of that as a means to deliver course content. The video capability of the iPod Touch and iPhone makes this an ideal delivery platform and gives students a device on which they can review lectures and other course material while on the go or working out.

The faculty has designated Apple Computer as its preferred provider for two primary reasons: (1) Apple's OS X operating system is based on Unix, which makes these computers far less susceptible to viruses than other computers. Viruses are a serious problem on university campuses. (2) Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro computers come bundled with iLife, a suite of applications ideal for learning the basics of photo editing, and audio and video editing. We'll use those programs in several classes."

These are beginning to sound almost like those Get a Mac ads, but at the beginning of the announcement, MU already stated the minimum requirement that well at least a bit relieving for Microsoft:

• "Each year, the school recommends two or three configurations for all entering freshmen and graduate students. The minimum recommended configuration is a wireless laptop computer with the Microsoft Office suite of software.

• Additional software may be required in some specialties by the time students reach the junior year or in specific graduate areas of emphasis. Photojournalism majors, for example, will need to purchase Photoshop, a program for toning photographs for publication.

• Students are encouraged to acquire wireless laptop technology from Apple, which the School has designated as its preferred provider, but students also will have a choice of a Windows-based alternative."

But does it? Should Microsoft breathe easier settling with just that? IMHO not, especially when some of the last of the university's announcements are read like these:

• "Last year, 99.5 percent of incoming students chose the Apple option.

• TigerTech estimates that 90 percent of Missouri students have iPods.

• Almost 100 percent of last year's freshmen chose Apple computers."

Sources are from MU, via TG Daily.

iPad: is this Apple’s answer to netbook?

It all started with the usual spicy statement from Apple CEO Steve Jobs himself back then when he addressed Apple’s point of view on the growing popularity of netbook: “It’s a nascent category and we’ll watch while it evolves. And we’ve got some pretty good ideas if it does evolve.”

And when the global economy recession hit, people in general are more interested in budget friendly laptop – or as we know it nowadays as netbook. But even with the economy situation looks to threaten Apple sales on its Mac line-ups (MacBooks & iMacs), the company's chief operating officer Tim Cook reassured everyone that Apple has no interest in that nascent category:

"When I look at netbooks, I see cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, very small screens. It's just not a good consumer experience and not something we would put the Mac brand on. It's a segment we would not choose to play in."

Instead of jumping into the crowded bandwagon of netbooks, AppleInsider has learned that Apple is planning to introduce more affordable Macs until the company is ready to introduce its own take on the market in the much rumored Newton-like web tablet, a project which is taking considerably longer to complete than once anticipated.

So with a ‘MacNetbook’ variant is out of the picture (for now), what Apple has in its sleeve to respond to the increasing market demand for more affordable Macs? Not to mention that Microsoft has been bashing on Macs’ price with its latest PC ads. Well, according to a Wall Street Journal article; Steve Jobs is taking medical leave of absent right now but he keep on working on some kind of mid-sized mobile device.

Adding fuel to the churning rumor mill, BusinessWeek also reported that Apple is developing a 'media pad' to be called 'iPad' (name taken from Silicon Alley Insider), a mobile device that would let users watch videos on a screen larger than an iPod Touch or Amazon's Kindle e-book reader, but on a device that's more portable than notebooks and lacks a keyboard.

If we are to take Steve Jobs above statement where he said something about “pretty good ideas” for Apple’s own version of netbook, mix it with all of these rumors, and put them together into the equation; then there’s no reason for Apple not to be able to pull this purportedly ‘iPad’ to reality. There are two reasons why, which not that far away from what we’ve admired today: mobile Mac OS X (iPhone OS) & App Store.

The iPhone OS is both very user friendly and especially made for small-touchscreen only mobile device, and it also designed for smaller footprint hardware with limited resources; all in all makes iPhone OS perfect for netbook or for Apple: the ‘iPad’.

And with the success of App Store, all Apple need to do is allow the ‘iPad’ to access App Store directly just like in iPhone; propelling it to instant success. Craig Hockenberry of Iconfactory, creators of Twitterific says in an email to ZDNet: "It would be a smart thing for them (Apple) to do: there are instantly tens of thousands of apps and users are presented with a familiar interface (something that looks a lot like Dashboard in Mac OS X)."

It’s not just a wishful thinking for Apple fans all over the world, but also an endearing dream for tech enthusiasts like you and me. I’ll just going to quote the words of Tom Krazit from ZDNet that perfectly describes what if the ‘iPad’ become a reality: "This is the last frontier of the promised convergence between computers and communication devices. That shift has already happened to the smartphone, but it seems very reasonable that, for many people, smartphone screens are too small for serious computing."

In the meantime, let’s wet the floor with more of your drool with the Apple Netbook 3D illustration above, courtesy of Mac Format. ~LOL~

Sources are from:

• Why Apple Doesn’t Need a Netbook (PC World)
• Apple to introduce more affordable Macs, sources say (AppleInsider)
• The Apple Netbook (Mac Format)
• Is Apple getting ready for an 'iPad' (ZDNet)

The pretty "white-lies" of Apple's secret to success

What is Apple's secret to success? That's a million-dollar worth of question if you can give the answer to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.

There were many attempts to discover the secret, Apple has been measured, spied upon and poked around many times but the answer remain as one big mystery.

But what do you know, on Thursday at the McGraw-Hill Companies' Media Summit New York, where Steve Ballmer was interviewed via webcast by BusinessWeek editor-in-chief Stephen Adler; Microsoft CEO finally found out one of the answers in his own "white-lies" version:

"The economy is helpful. Paying an extra $500 for a computer in this environment -- same piece of hardware -- paying $500 more to get a logo on it? I think that's a more challenging proposition for the average person than it used to be."

Is Ballmer right? Do they (Mac users) paid $500 extra just to get a fruit logo slapped on their hardware? Is this Apple's secret? Is that why Steve Jobs is so filthy-rich? Weeell... not exactly, but Ballmer does have a point there. Because let's take the white 13-inch MacBook for an example; it is sold for $999 which you'll get 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip, 2GB of memory and a 120GB hard drive. Let be honest here okay, for the same price you can get a better equipped PC laptop. But yes, it is a Windows-powered machine not a Mac.

Personally, I found the price is also one big obstacle for me to own the cutting-edge (literally) MacBook Air with the highest model. Which I have to pay a hefty additional $999 from the base price tag for the 128GB SSD instead of the lame ol' 160GB HDD, no wonder I keep thinking it is ridiculous and never get one. But that's just me though... ;-p

But why even though they know that they're paying more money for a Mac than a PC, they still buy it? Mac users can give plenty of answers and reasons on why they chose a Mac not a PC, but let's not delve into technical stuffs because perhaps the most honest answer is like what Scott Kriens (Juniper’s CEO at Sunnyvale) has said: "Everybody told me I should get one, it's not anything to do with negative perceptions about Microsoft. It's just that Macs are cool."

Ohkay, if talking about feeling is not scientific enough for you, how about this: according to researchers at Duke University and the University of Waterloo that when thinking about Apple makes people more creative. They conducted a test by showing brand logo of companies like Apple and IBM, and after exposing them to the brands, the researchers asked subjects to describe as many uses for a brick as they could.

The results are: IBM-primed subjects had strikingly uniform answers, most people mentioned a door stop or a paperweight. While the Apple-primed subjects averaged 30% more answers and independent reviewers also deemed their answers as more creative.

You must be asking, how creative? Gavan Fitzsimons, one of the Duke professors who conducted the study said: “But the subjects who had seen Apple’s logo also came up with uses like tying it around my roommate’s foot and throwing him in a deep pond." ~LOL~

Fitzsimons believes that the key to shaping behavior is unconsciously planting the brand image. And so Fitzsimons replaced his Thinkpad with a Mac three months after the test. “I figure I’ll be walking by it everyday and sometimes I’ll see it without thinking,” he said. “I felt like if I really believe this stuff, I should put my money where my mouth is.” ~bigger LOL~

And that's probably the pretty white-truth that Steve Ballmer has been looking for, the real honest answer to his problem why with all the large amount of money injected to promote Windows and even with help from Jerry Seinfield have all failed. It's like what Mark Slaga, chief information officer of Dimension Data, who says he received up to 25 e-mails from his employees asking for permission to use Macs at work. He concedes, "Steve Jobs doesn't need a sales force because he already has one: employees like the ones in my company."

That's gotta be one hell of a hard-honest feeling for Steve Ballmer to chew on... ;-)

Sources are from:

• Ballmer Is Right: Mac Users Do Pay Dearly for Apple Logo (PC World)
• The Mac in the Gray Flannel Suit (BusinessWeek)
• Think Apple: It Boosts Creativity (Wall Street Journal)

Apple warns you shouldn't take iPhone/iPods to bath or swim

That is obvious, of course. Not to take your mobile device or smarpthone into bath or swim with you, who would do such thing? ;-p

Unless you put on a waterproof case to your precious iPhone or iPods, you might take them with you to dip into water so you can continue hear your favorite tunes or won't worry about missing an important call. But even so, you should read Apple's recent technical note (via ZDNet) that says the device's warranty or AppleCare Protection will not cover any water damage.

What's more, Apple has put an indicator technology inside just like in the MacBook line-ups so technicians can tell if the device has been submerged or not. Here are some parts of the technical note about the indicator:

The Liquid Submersion Indicator is triggered when liquid enters the iPhone or iPod. The indicator will turn red or pink when the device has been submerged in liquid.

You can tell if the Liquid Submersion Indicator has been triggered by looking directly down into the headphone jack. Either use a lighted magnifying glass, or angle the iPhone or iPod so light shines down into the headphone jack. At the base of the headphone jack, you should see what is normally a white or silver colored dot. Half of the dot becomes red (or a pinkish color) when the device has been submerged in liquid. iPhone 3G models also have a Liquid Submersion Indicator located on the bottom of the connector housing, just under the 30-pin dock connector. To view the indicator, use a lighted magnifying glass and hold the iPhone 3G so that you can view the center bottom of the dock connector housing. A full red dot will appear if the indicator has been triggered.

Go to the technical note page to see where the rest of those indicators are positioned at your iPods, so will you now have a second thought of bringing your iPhone/iPod to the bathroom to turn it into your own little karaoke box? ~LOL~

A MacNetbook runs Windows/Linux? Definetely a knock-off!

As if we're not being teased enough with the rumors of a cheaper version of MacBook, here's another one that's definetely fall into the knock-off category. A China-based computer company called Top Crown is offering its WF188 netbook with a flipped Apple logo on the top cover, making potential (yet foolish) buyers blindly believe they're buying "MacNetbook". *chuckles*

Here's the list of this alledgedly "MacNetbook" specification if you still interested and haven't jump to the next post already:

• Via Nano 1.3GHz processor
• Up to 2GB DDR 2 RAM
• Via Chrome 9 HC3 integrated graphics card
• 160GB 2.5" SATA HDD or 64GB SSD
• 10-inch screen with 1024x576 resolution
• 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, Ethernet, Bluetooth, 3G/HSDPA connectivity
• Three USB ports, VGA-out, SDHC/MMC card reader and ExpressCard slot
• Windows XP or Linux OS

If any of you are planning to go to Hong Kong or Shenzhen in near future, perhaps you can pick one of this "MacNetbook" for me cuz I've been dying to own a MacBook Air since like forever, and because of one or two things that are currently happening then I guess this will do just fine. ~LOL~

Sources are from CNet & Gizmodo.

iSendMMS allows iPhone to (only) send MMS

The iPhone OS 3.0 is just few days away from being unveiled to the world, among the rumored of promised new features is the ability to send and receive MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) in iPhone.

But for you who can't wait that long, there's a work around to take MMS feature into your iPhone faster; a Swedish company Mobispine has introduced an app that lets iPhone users send MMS messages called iSendMMS.

Sounds too good to be true? You're right, because there are two conditions. The first one is in order for you to use the app, you must registered with the local wireless carrier TeliaSonera, which means you must become a Sweden citizen first. Second; iSendMMS only supports for sending MMS.

According to Joakim Hilj, corporate vice president of sales at Mobispine in the company's blog (via PC Advisor); Mobispine is planning to make iSendMMS to be able to receive MMS as well. For that to be possible the Mobispine platform has to be connected with the operator's existing MMS equipment, and it would also makes sense to use the Apple notification API (application programming interface) when released.

Hilj also reveals his company plan to broaden iSendMMS coverage to other wireless carriers since last year November. The first big step to make iSendMMS globally available in other countries has been done, that is to get Apple approval in App Store. iSendMMS is already available in App Store at the price of 49 Swedish kronor (£4.10), but users should aware that they still have to pay the MMS tariff seperately to the wireless carrier.

If MMS feature is to be included in the upcoming iPhone OS 3.0, then this iSendMMS app is going to face a real tough time and destined to become obselete when the new OS is delivered.

Indonesia iPhone 3G will be launched on March 20th

It's finally coming here to my little country, the iPhone 3G. It's not a biggie news, especially for those at the other side of the world who already have official iPhone 3G launched at their countries, or for you who have own a pawned iPhone 3G.

Nevertheless, it would be an interesting event to watch. Will the iPhone 3G beat Nokia's Communicator (E90) & RIM's BlackBerry Bold which have become the most used smartphones in Indonesia? The wireless carrier who will officially sell the iPhone 3G is Telkomsel, one of the biggest wireless carriers in Indonesia.

The 8GB model is offered at roughly around US$214 for 12 months subscription plan called "Turbo Premium", subscribers will get free 360 minutes talk, 300 free text messages, and free 1,000MB data connection. For the same subscription plan, the 16GB model is sold at around US$333 a piece. For the full information, hit this link.

Note: that's not me in the picture who held an iPhone 3G, I wish it is. ~LOL~ It's a very tempting offer, and I bet there'll be a long line of people who want to be the first to own the official iPhone 3G in Indonesia. But personally, I'll wait until the announcement of iPhone OS 3.0 on March 17th, and find out if the new OS will be fully compatible with the iPhone 3G or not. Until then, I'll indulge myself with a dream of owning iPhone 3G for my own. Yup, that's right keep on dreaming eh? ;-p

iPhone OS 3.0: a dream & hope for the perfect (i)Phone

Apple is making the most of its money spent on marketing to make yet another scene and create a buzz to kill off the heat of the most talked about smartphone nowadays: the Prē™, the Cupertino-based company is planning to announce the third generation of OS for its popular smartphone: the iPhone on March 17th.

Like usual, Apple doesn't provide any more details regarding the special event for iPhone OS 3.0 besides the picture there on the left. And as for me, and most of you who always follow the mobile & tech news, we don't exactly suprised by Apple quick decision to launch a new iPhone OS. The reason is quite simple really; Apple is trying to beat the race against Palm to present the ultimate and most desired smartphone into the market.

The Palm Prē™ launch date is yet to be official, but generally we expect it will be launched on June later this year. Palm definetely has left out a quite big hole for competitors to fill in the time frame ever since the company introduced the Prē™ at CES 2009 on January, and Apple obviously doesn't want to waste the chance.

Even though the current iPhone 3G with OS 2.x is already become the most sought after smartphone in the world right now, but there are still plenty of standard features for average smartphone which are not in it. iPhone users know this better than anyone else, and with the new OS ready to be introduced, Apple without doubt plans to make the perfect iPhone.

In short, what the Palm Prē™ can do, Apple will make its iPhone can do the same or better. There are many wish lists made by iPhone users in forums all over the internet, but here are some of the features that will perhaps come close enough to be in the iPhone OS 3.0:

1. MMS
2. Tethering via Bluetooth & USB
3. Themes option
4. Cut & paste
5. Multitasking
6. Push notifications

Apple underlined the word "sneak peek" at the iPhone OS 3.0 software event invitations that's spread for media coverage, so it's very clear that the new OS is not going to be available right away after the introduction. And it's also so apparent that Apple is trying to steal the thunder from Palm Prē™, and Apple is doing it gradually, because there's a huge rumor going around the net about Apple is making a bigger iPod Touch with 10-inch screen.

If these all are true, then it'll be a very interesting battle between iPhone (Apple) vs. Prē™ (Palm) at June. Where the Prē™ is to be released, and Apple is known to refresh its hardware line-ups at around the same month of the year.

PearC; another Mac clone arise to challenge Apple

Apple really is receiving a lot of beating this year, the company with the logo of an eaten fruit has long known for holding close & tight the exclusive right to its products.

First, it was Psystar who's been selling "hackint0sh" computers; PC computers installed with Mac OS X. Then comes out OpeniMac from Argentina, who also challenges the idea of Mac OS must run on Mac machines. Of course Apple furious, and as we know Apple very well, they sue Psystar but even until today Apple still hasn't managed to take out Psystar legally.

And now, there's another company from German who called themselves PearC, sells PC computers with Mac OS X inside. PearC offers begin at €500, and their most cutting edge desktop offering starts at €1499 and even has the option for Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition for an extra €719.99 (as reported by ModMyi).

But the main question for everyone who wish to buy PearC's computers: is this legal? Here's PearC direct answer to that question, posted at the company's FAQ page:

7. Is it legal that to install Mac OS X on a PC?

We would not offer our PearCs, if we the opinion were not that it is legal.

One of the ModMyi forum members named Chandler86, who said he's from Germany tells us something about this legal thing:

"It is indeed legal, cause the thing Apple does, saying that it's not allowed to install OS on a PC which does not come from Apple is against EU and also German's laws. That's why it's legal here. This is also the reason why this company will not sell the PCs in the US, only in EU Countries like Belgium, France, etc. because they have also the same laws -> Apple rules are illegal here. :-)"

This is a sad situation for Apple, but a boon for those who live in the countries mentioned above. So how about it Apple? Shouldn't you worry more about this kinda "legal" infringement, rather than trouble yourselves fighting over the iPhone multi-touch patent infringement. ;-p

The curious case of iPhone multi-touch patent (Apple vs. Palm)

"I was born under unusual circumstances." And so begins 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' adapted from the 1920s story by F. Scott Fitzgerald.

In respect of the aforementioned great movie, I feel a funny similarity between the movie with the current situation that befell on Palm and its upcoming smartphone: the Prē™. As we all know it, ever since the Prē™ introduced for the first time at CES 2009, it draws plenty of attentions not only from Palm-fans but also both from tech enthusiasts and competitors.

The Prē™ is yet to be launched and land on the market into our palms, but the newly born child of Palm which is supposedly to save the company to stay afloat in today’s tough competition has the possibility to face a potential law suit from Apple. Where for the last weeks, Apple and Palm have been exchanging nothing but brawl talks through mass media.

Neither of both companies are pointing their fingers at the moment, but it’s easy to guess since this all started when Apple COO Tim Cook was asked about Palm Prē™, and how close some parts of the Palm webOS™ mimics iPhone multi-touch gestures. And when U.S. Patent Office awarded Apple with the iPhone multi-touch patent, the Cupertino-based company now has grounds to start law suits against Palm. It’s only a matter of time until we see an ugly fight between those companies which are both well known for creating break through innovations…

While for us, end users and consumers it’s more interesting to know what is it about iPhone multi-touch patent that Apple plans to protect with whatever arsenals the company has. The curiosity is enough to make these three famous tech sites to published deeper analysts to look into the patent dispute:

• Nilay Patel from Engadget is helped by Mathew Gavronski, a patent attorney in the Chicago office of Michael Best & Friedrich.
• John Mahoney from Gizmodo is helped by R. Polk Wagner, a professor of patents law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
• Rob Enderle, a Principal Analyst from Enderle Group wrote for TG Daily

Though each of them have their own different perspectives on how to take a look at the iPhone multi-touch patent dispute, I found thin red strings that connect their analysts together. I’ll just gonna take the most compelling points, for more thorough discussions you can visit them by clicking on the respective links above.

The 358-page mother of all (multi-touch) patents

 I’m quoting from Rob, which I think the awarded 358-page of iPhone multi-touch patent is indeed the source of all law suits to come from Apple. And he also gives a nice explanation, in rather acerbic words yet true if I may say, about the generosity of pages for one patent: “Steve Jobs, who never takes no for an answer, wanted his folks to patent the iPhone. They did this in what appears to be the mother of all patents.”

It is hard to transcribe a new technology in words, not even for the inventors themselves nor for the lawyers, just like what Prof. Wagner has said to Gizmodo: ”Patent claims are an attempt to use words to describe things and ideas, an imperfect way of operating. In an ideal world we'd have patent claims that look like a title record you get for your house [your property starts exactly 200 feet from this road walking in exactly this direction, etc]. But it is incredibly difficult to predict exactly what a patent will or won't cover.”

If we are to remember the multi-touch in iPhone, it went way back to the first introduction of iPhone first generation at Macworld 2007 by Steve Jobs himself, where the “patented revolutionary UI (User Interface)” line written all over the slides on big screen. And long before that, Apple has bought a company called FingerWorks back in 2005, who founders Wayne Westerman is also named in the iPhone multi-touch patent along with Steve Jobs.

Apple has prepared iPhone multi-touch technology for quite some time, so it does make sense in a way for the company to defend the IPs (Intellectual Property) which have cost millions of dollars and cooked long till ready in its R&D department.

Patent fights

Apple is not the only one who can think of preparing for legal law suit against Palm, in fact Nilay (Engadget) has dug up four patents from literally hundreds of Palm’s patents that seem to directly implicate the iPhone.

It’s not a simple “pillow-fight” anymore, a fight which no one will receive serious injuries. But if Apple is forcing the iPhone multi-touch patent to the court, Palm might use its own patents to counter back Apple, and so the table could turn into Palm’s favor. Remember, Palm has been in the mobile (PDA and smartphone) market long before Apple was.

Rob (TG Daily) is also reminding us on how alike this patent fight of Microsoft vs. Linux in the past, but this time Apple is in Microsoft’s role while Palm as Linux. Back then, Microsoft was threatening Linux with litigation for violations over its patents and copyrights. In the end and even until today, Microsoft has calm down and stashed away the litigation in ice box although we got to wonder what would’ve happened if it went to court. Microsoft may not win, if so then the software giant would even possibly loose all of its precious patents and copyrights as well. And this could be the same case for Apple vs. Palm right now.

Risks assessment

Alright, enough of the long talk about what kind of patent Apple has or Palm has. It’s tiring enough to hear the 358-page of the multi-touch patent, I can’t imagine how boring it is to discuss one page after another. Let’s get to the point: who’s going to win this patent dispute? Apple, or Palm?

I’m going to present to you first the insight view by Rob (TG Daily) about how dangerous it is for Apple if its thick patent fail in court: ”… smaller patents can be defended individually and losing a small number of them would not necessarily put the entire phone at risk. But if any major part of this patent fails it could effectively take the entire patent out…”

That’s true, the biggest risk for losing the patent for Apple is almost equal as losing the iPhone itself. And Nilay (Engadget) said: “…by suing Palm, Apple's putting its iPhone patents at risk, and that's an awful big ante. Same for Palm if it sues Apple and loses -- it stands the risk of losing its patents…”

Yes of course, Apple has a solid & firm grounds for sticking up its iPhone multi-touch technologies covered in the patent. Apple can win the case, if it ever goes to court.

But if I may put a counter argument, or like what Rob (TG Daily) has put it way much better in his own words: “Each item in Apple's patent, once in front of a judge, could have widely different interpretations depending on the judge, which is generally why you try to keep patents as simple as possible.”

Rob’s argument is sound, and it's in somewhat same circle of what Prof. Wagner has said above to John (Gizmodo). No inventors, not to mention the lawyers who don’t fully understand the invented technologies, can able to describe them in plain words or pictures.

One last thought

"Designing around patents requires innovation," said Prof. Wagner, "and a lot of times, the end result turns out better than the what was being imitated." Again, another sound argument. Technology is a never ending innovation, it grows upon older ones, and the roots can be traced back to the most aging technologies invented by somebody else.

The remaining question for all of us is not whether or not there’s a hole in the iPhone multi-touch patent to be used by Palm, but instead we need to focus on bigger issue for the future of smartphones: will iPhone multi-touch patent stifle the innovations since it covers almost all of the advanced functions for touch screen devices (ex: swipe, pinch, etc.)?

IMHO it’s like someone has patented the sliding mechanism for doors, where every door in the whole world will be forced to use the usual swing mechanism or pay the patent for just a bit of variation to use the door…

An Apple full of worms

Would you bite an apple if you knew there's a worm inside it? You'll probably won't, not if you're that desperate. And that's probably the same answer when those who downloaded pirated copies of iWork '09 and Photoshop CS4 (for Mac) from BitTorrent file sharing networks, received more than what they had been expecting for.

The Austin-based company that specializes in Mac security software Intego, has found a Trojan installer in those pirated copies of iWork '09 called "OSX.Trojan.iServices.A". The Trojan is placed inside a package named "iWorkServices.pkg", which is originally not included in the original iWork '09.

"The installer for the Trojan horse is launched as soon as a user begins the installation of iWork, following the installer's request of an administrator password," Intego said in a warning published Wednesday.

Once the Trojan has been installed, it'll then tells the creators so hackers can "connect to them and perform various actions remotely", including downloading additional components to the machine. Intego said 20,000 people had already downloaded the installer at the time of its alert.

A second 'worm' called "OSX.Trojan.iServices.B" also has already begun showing up in pirated copies of Adobe Photoshop CS4, the security firm said it has been downloaded by 5,000 people and it's harder to safely remove this malware.

Apple has long known to boast about the built-in security of its Mac OS, that provides protection right out of the box for users. Even though Apple still can deflect these kinda worms attack by saying they're coming from pirated copies of softwares, users might have different point of view on seeing this rising threats on their beloved Mac computers. Should Apple start pushing Mac users to adopt 3rd party anti-virus softwares like Windows do?

In another side of the world, Jason D. O'Grady from ZDNet blog has received a copy of iLife '09 in a package that he called it as "shirt box". The package itself (pictured right) is way too big for the iLife '09 original packaging, and it's interesting to read his suggestion for Apple:

"Or even better, distribute the software distributed via BitTorrent and as an incentive, pass the savings along to the consumer (say $10 off) and users download it a couple days before it hits retail shelves." ~LOL~

Now that's what I call as an 'irony'. ;-p

Sources are from:

• Don't Bite That Apple, It's Full of Worms (PC World)
• Two new trojan horses threaten Mac software pirates (AppleInsider)
• The irony of Apple packaging (ZDNet blog)