MacRumors writes: T-Mobile in Germany, however, threatened that it may take action to prevent its customers from using Skype on the iPhone. On the flip side, an open-Internet advocacy group is asking the FCC to see if AT&T and Apple are violating federal rules by restricting Skype to just Wi-Fi. This is serious. On one … Continue reading “Carrier Canute”
T-Mobile in Germany, however, threatened that it may take action to prevent its customers from using Skype on the iPhone. On the flip side, an open-Internet advocacy group is asking the FCC to see if AT&T and Apple are violating federal rules by restricting Skype to just Wi-Fi.
This is serious.
On one hand we have carriers moaning that they don’t want to be relegated to being a dumb pipe and on the other hand they’re screaming and shouting and pulling their hair out trying to stop the future.
It’s that obvious. They’re trying to stop the future.
The future is data. It’s web, it’s email, it’s RSS, it’s Twitter and it’s Voice over IP. While the carriers hang desperately onto their precious voice minutes, limited texts and capped data plans and try to block voice data (like Skype) and SMS rebroadcasts (like Twitter) but the writing is on the wall.
Carriers need to look out. The Future called. We’re coming for you.
I’ve been waiting for SlingPlayer for iPhone for a while. Last November, I plied a Sling exec with question on when it would be available – the man was inscrutable 🙂 But while I’m pleased that it’s coming out, I’m not happy that my Slingbox Classic isn’t going to be supported. TUAW writes: A page … Continue reading “Sling yer ‘ook”
I’ve been waiting for SlingPlayer for iPhone for a while. Last November, I plied a Sling exec with question on when it would be available – the man was inscrutable 🙂
But while I’m pleased that it’s coming out, I’m not happy that my Slingbox Classic isn’t going to be supported.
TUAW writes:
A page on the SlingMedia website suggests owners of older Sling hardware get an upgrade because the new iPhone software “and future services yet to be announced will only be supported for customers using Slingbox SOLO, Slingbox PRO and Slingbox PRO-HD products or forthcoming SlingLoaded products.”
The fact that my current Slingbox works on my Mac (both use Cocoa and ObjC), the fact that Slingbox Classic works fine for Windows Mobile, Blackberry and even Palm handhelds – it just leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth.
Engadget previously wrote that previous builds of the app worked fine with the older hardware. So they’re not only looking for money when you buy a copy of the SlingPlayer for iPhone software (what? did you think it would be free?) but now a lot of folk are going to have to consider changing their Slingbox as well?
Well, fuck that. If it doesn’t work with my Slingbox, then I’m going to Sling it. There’s obviously a real need for a media-shifting platform which doesn’t tie you into a proprietary codec and player.
Anssi Vankoji, Executive Vice President at Nokia wants the technorati to know that there is more to mobile phones than the iPhone. VB: Do you think you have a flagship device that will beat the iPhone? AV: I don’t know if you beat a device with a device. What you have is a piece of … Continue reading “Do not use that word…it does not mean what you think it means…”
VB: Do you think you have a flagship device that will beat the iPhone?
AV: I don’t know if you beat a device with a device. What you have is a piece of hardware. You need software. For the basic functionality, we are beating iPhone hands-down today with our N Series products. We have a big jump to take in usability to make it really user-friendly. If you compare an N95 with the iPhone, we have a lot more features. Not all of them are easy for the normal consumer. You have to be a geek to make use of them. But we are taking quantum leaps to get better usability, and we will have many applications. We also don’t think the world is so simple that you just make one device for everybody. We know more about the consumers in the world than any other consumer goods company in the world because we have so many customers. We know they have different tastes and uses and so you have to offer a whole line.
OK.
quan·tum
n. pl. quan·ta (-t)
The smallest amount of a physical quantity that can exist independently
So, according to Nokia they are taking the smallest leaps possible to get better usability.
I’m going to have to leave the “features aren’t everything” rant until later. And the “it doesn’t matter if your platform is open if the foundations are sinking and no-one wants to develop for it” rant too.
As many of you will know, I was in California in March, talking to Apple, talking to some VC folk and eating some really nice breakfasts. Some of this was as a result of the XCake group that John Kennedy and I started last year and some of it was due to serendipity – meeting … Continue reading “WWDC 2009”
As many of you will know, I was in California in March, talking to Apple, talking to some VC folk and eating some really nice breakfasts. Some of this was as a result of the XCake group that John Kennedy and I started last year and some of it was due to serendipity – meeting some of the most excellent people along the way who were more than glad to open doors for others. To be honest, I’d never encountered such a can-do attitude before so a quick shout out to the “band of brothers” who blazed a trail in Cupertino. Here’s a pic of us outside Apple in Infinite Loop.
Band of Brothers
Following on from this, we have the two iPhone developer days and now, as part of my work with the Digital Circle, we’re planning to take some companies out to WWDC in June to learn about the iPhone. If you’re working for a Northern Ireland company and are interested in spending a week at a developer conference, then get in touch. At the moment we have 35 names of folk who are interested in attending the event which will bring over 1000 Apple engineers into a big hall to talk to many more thousands of developers about web standards, the Mac, IT and, most importantly, the iPhone.
In 2008, there were 5,200 developers there in addition to Apple staff – the conference sold out. I can only imagine that this year they will have vastly increased the amount of space or it’s going to sell out even quicker. To give a comparison, have a read on the Google Mac Blog about the report from 2008.
And when I accidentally opened my laptop with the WiFi still on, it found three computer-to-computer wireless networks on my flight to SFO. I didn’t think much of all this until I looked up the aisle of the plane. Three rows up on the other side of the aisle, some guy had his laptop open. At a glance, I could see he was using Interface Builder, one of the tools developers use to build software for both Mac and iPhone. Then he picked up a book on introductory Cocoa programming, and it hit me: the conference was going to be big this year.
I’d like to point out that this was before the AppStore was open. This was before the first of the “59p millionaires“. People just knew that the iPhone was going to be massive.
I’ve posted this image before. It was taken at 0930 on the day before we were due to go to Apple. The iconic nature of this simple window display really struck me.
I asked which was more important, Apps or iPhone. Apps. Which takes up more room in the picture – the app icons almost obscure the iPhone itself. This should help ram it home to anyone running a business today that is grey panels with embedded text boxes that needs to run on a desktop PC. Mobile is here. It’s getting bigger. And if you don’t do something now, you’ll be eaten.
So, get your act together. Get in touch. Talk to me and book your place on the WWDC rollercoaster. We’ve got 35 names already registered – folk willing to take a punt. At this rate, we’ll take over an entire hotel.
There are a lot of disconnected pathways in Northern Ireland. It’s plain we don’t talk enough and even when we do, we don’t spend enough time listening. In the Digital Media and Technology space, this means you can have weeks with nothing on and weeks where every day has something on it and in many … Continue reading “What’s going on in your neighbourhood?”
There are a lot of disconnected pathways in Northern Ireland. It’s plain we don’t talk enough and even when we do, we don’t spend enough time listening. In the Digital Media and Technology space, this means you can have weeks with nothing on and weeks where every day has something on it and in many cases, more than one thing. There’s been much talk about developing some sort of ‘open’ calendar platform that will allow people to book events from within iCal or Outlook or even by just sending an email to an address to try and minimise the number of conflicts – but that development requires investment from someone who’s passionate about it. (I’m passionate about it, I just don’t have the cash!).
So, I’m kinda staking my claim on a few days and letting you know what others are doing to the best of my knowledge. You can find a lot of this information on the NICreatives Calendar and some more on the Digital Circle calendar. Some of the things going on are going to be of interest to Creatives, some to technologists, some to creative technologists, some to other sectors as we find ways to extend skills in social and digital media creation, management and distribution into other non-traditional sectors.
Just remember these for April and you’ll not go wrong:
May is also bringing us more xCake goodness, a Leadership Summit in Connected Health and a Geeks Meet Meds-type ICT event for Connected Health. They’ll be appearing on the Digital Circle calendar in the next few days. For this latter event, I’m looking for ‘clinicians’ (doctors, psychiatrists, whatever) who have an interest in what technology can do for healthcare. This isn’t about £10 million budgets, this is about small people, small devices, small changes and big impacts.
One of the biggest criticisms of the iPhone App Store was the approval process. Developer aren’t keen on having a big-brother presence deciding whether their apps can be deployed on the iPhone. This leads some to jailbreak, this leads others to complain every day about how the iPhone should be opened. FalseDictotomies writes: I’ve had … Continue reading “Android Store not so open. Caveat CodeMonkey!”
One of the biggest criticisms of the iPhone App Store was the approval process. Developer aren’t keen on having a big-brother presence deciding whether their apps can be deployed on the iPhone. This leads some to jailbreak, this leads others to complain every day about how the iPhone should be opened.
I’ve had my first real clash with the Open Handset Alliance today. Wifi Tether for Root Users, an app I’m a contributor for, got banned from the Android Market for violating the Developer Distribution Agreement.
The reasoning provided is a rather twisted web, as it turns out. According to the agreement:
“Google enters into distribution agreements with device manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation of the Device manufacturer’s or Authorized Carrier’s terms of service.”
Woah, so much for the open market.
This raises some interesting questions about this “open” platform.
But it also lends support to the argument that it’s not Apple who banned Tethering – it’s the carriers. This isn’t surprising – tethering enables Voice over IP, it enables streaming, it reduced the need for wired, fixed broadband and it pretty much eliminates the need for mobile broadband dongles. The carriers would like you to buy all three.
