Jonathan Ive Talks Apple and Design
The website for The London Evening Standard has run an interesting Q&A with Apple design deity Jonathan Ive. My favorite Q&A:
Q: What are your goals when setting out to build a new product?
A: Our goals are very simple - to design and make better products. If we can’t make something that is better, we won’t do it.
The rest are here. Interesting if you like iThings.
Apple Posts Updates for Its iOS Apps
In addition to new hardware announcements, Apple issued a slew of updates for its iOS apps on Wednesday. Here are the six from my phone:
Find My iPhone (v1.4)
- Support for Retina display-capable devices
- Bug Fixes
- Stability Enhancements
iBooks (v2.1)
- Read books more easily with sharply detailed text on the new iPad’s amazing Retina display
- See page numbers that correspond to the printed edition of selected titles
- Search for a page number to jump to a desired page with a single tap
- Use your finger as a highlighter when swiping over text
- This version also includes a number of important stability and performance improvements
iMovie (v1.3)
- Create beautiful movie trailers with stunning graphics and world-class soundtracks (Trailers are available on iPhone 4 or later and iPad 2 or later)
- Preview music and sound effects in the Audio Browser
- Create a song in GarageBand and send it directly to iMovie
Find My Friends (v1.1)
- Support for Retina display
- Bug fixes
- Stability enhancements
Pages (v1.6)
- Easily enter text using the landscape keyboard on iPhone and iPod touch
- Create and view stunning 3D bar, line, and pie charts
- Pages 1.6 is enhanced to take advantage of the Retina display on the new iPad
- Includes performance improvements
Remote (v2.3)
- Support for iTunes Match on Apple TV
- Support for Retina display on iPad
iTunes U (v1.1 - iPad Only)
- iTunes U 1.1 is now designed for the spectacular Retina display on the all new iPad. This version also includes a number of performance improvements.
Apple Issues Mac Updates for iPhoto, iTunes, and GarageBand
iPhoto Update: What's New in Version 9.2.2
- Photos can now be deleted from Photo Stream
Included in Version 9.2
- Addresses compatibility with iCloud and iOS 5
- Left and right swipe gestures can now be used to navigate between photos in Magnify (1-up) view
- Previously imported photos are now displayed in a separate section of the Import window
- Book/calendar themes and card categories can now be selected using a pop-up menu in the carousel view
- Resolves an issue that could cause some pages of books to print incorrectly
- Rebuilding a library now correctly preserves saved slideshows and books
The update is recommended for all users of iPhoto '11.
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iTunes 10.6 adds the ability to play 1080p HD movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store.
This release also includes many improvements for iTunes Match, including:
- Improved song matching
- Improved album artwork handling, downloading, and display
- Addresses an issue where songs may skip when playing from iCloud
For information on the security content of this update, please visit: support.apple.com/kb/HT1222
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GarageBand 6.0.5: This update supports general compatibility and addresses overall stability and performance, including the following:
- Updates compatibility with GarageBand for iOS projects
- Fixes a playback issue with the GarageBand Lesson preview videos
- Corrects issues with some software instruments triggering incorrect or stuck notes
Apple: Sandboxing deadline extended to June 1.
The sandboxing regulations for Mac developers have been pushed back. Apple has sent this email to members of the developer program:
"We have extended the deadline for sandboxing your apps on the Mac App Store from March 1st to June 1st to provide you with enough time to take advantage of new sandboxing entitlements available in OS X 10.7.3 and new APIs in Xcode 4.3.
"Starting June 1, if you have an existing app on the Mac App Store that is not sandboxed, you may still submit bug fix updates without sandboxing your app. In addition, if you have technical issues that prevent you from sandboxing your app by June 1, let us know.
"Learn more about sandboxing your app and get answers to FAQs."
As always, thanks to the little birds flying these messages my way.
Apple Launches “Start Developing iOS Apps Today” App Development Overview
Wanna help move Apple to 50-billion app downloads? Well, you can keep downloading them one at a time or you can roll up your sleeves and build an app or two of your own.
The Next Web says Apple has posted a decent overview of the entire App-development process on its site called “Start Developing iOS Apps Today.”
No, it won’t teach you code. But the piece says it does walk interested parties through set-up, tutorials, fundamentals, and so on... it also provides “links to more extensive documents on each subject...”
Whether you're looking for a more general understanding, or want to build an application empire of your own, this may be a good jumping-off point.
Quick Notes: Tim Cook talks Apple at Goldman Sachs Conference
Bill Shoppe hosts Apple CEO Tim Cook at the Goldman Sachs Technology and the Internet conference. Bold are general question posed by Shoppe, followed by Cooks' general replies.
First question about workers and the supply chain... Cook spoke of how important workers are to the company... talked of education opportunities being offered to workers in the supply chain, over 60-thousand of whom have taken advantage - more than the student body at Arizona State.
Eliminating under-age workers is important. Safety concerns are important (down to fire extinguishers in kitchens). Weekly work-hours are important. Reporting on worker conditions on a monthly basis on their website now. Trumpets work with FLA and audits being undertaken.
Speaking of worker rights and the supply chain, Cook said “We know people have a high expectation of Apple... We have an even higher expectation of ourselves.”
On iPhone (and the law of big numbers):
37-million is a big number... it was a decent quarter... 17-million more than any other number before.
only 25-percent of smartphone market and only 10-percent of cellphone market... so while the numbers were big, the potential is “jaw dropping.”
“What we’re focusing on is the same things we’ve always focused on... making the world’s best product.” Keep doing that and they should grab more.
Emerging Market and Pre-paid Market:
How do you address that and make it more affordable?
TC: These markets are critical... everybody wants the best product, not a cheap version of the best product... go-to market in emerging world belongs to retailers, not carriers so go-to market has to be addressed in a different way. Still... product is paramount.
BTW... We did manage to move Unicom to more of a subsidized market.
How does emerging market translate to Mac?
iPod created halo for Mac. That created resurgence for Mac. But, the halo created by iPod was created in developed markets (US, Western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan). Not created in emerging markets since people there were already getting music via phones. iPhone created that halo in China, other parts of Asia, South America, etc. iPad adding to that halo as well.
2007 (year before iPhone global launch) - revenue form emerging markets = $1.4-Billion
2011 - $22-Billion... and that’s just a start.
iPad:
7 full quarters... 55 million units... what made this such a success and what does it say about the tablet market in general?
Took 22 years to sell 55 million Macs... 5 years for iPods... 3 years for iPhones... so this is big.
Great product... app ecosystem has been helpful... stands on shoulders of what came before (App Store was in place... iPhone trained people for it).
So what does that mean for where tablets are heading?
TC: will eventually be bigger than PCs, just a question of when. Excitement for developing for iS “and that other operating system” is huge versus computers... computers won’t necessarily die, but tablets will outgrow them.
Talk iPad competition... (Amazon Kindle Fire)
TC: Price is rarely the most important thing... people may buy cheap product... may be happy paying less but but joy is gone with more use. “You don;t always remember you git a good deal! Because you hate it!”
Apple able to stay ahead of because they started ahead... while industry was looking to catch up to iPad, Apple was working on iPad 2. Amazon will sell a lot of units, but iPad customers would not be happy with “limited function product.”
“I love competition as long as people build their own stuff.”
How do you think about cannibalization in Macs and PCs in general:
iPad is cannibalizing Mac, but cool cause that’s us eating our own lunch. Does not predict demise of PC industry... iPad is eating more into PC space than Mac space... iPad will be good for industries (PC and tablet) because it will require industry to sharpen its message.
Just under 98B in cash... used sparingly in past. Why the reluctance for dividends and share buybacks and should we expect that to change.
TC: I disagree we’ve used it sparingly. Billions in supply chain... billion on acquisitions (iP included)... billions on retail... but yeah we still have a lot. We’re judicious. We’re deliberate. We spend our money like its our last penny. Not religious about holding money, but need to be deliberate and really think through what to do with cash.
we have more cash than we need to run the business on a daily basis... actively discussing what to do with it
TV... still a hobby... why and what happens going forward?
Not talking about future products... we call it a hobby because we don’t want people to think we think its iPhone/iPad/iPod size.
We don;t do hobies as a rule... and yet with Apple TV - despite the barriers in that amrket - we’ve always thought there’s something there... if we keep playing... keep pulling the string, we may find what that thing is.
Siri and iCloud... how important going forward?
Both are profound. iCloud strategy for next decade or more.
Siri... keyboard and mouse were inputs for computers for years. Evolution in that space but not revolution. Then comes multi-touch... now Siri is “another profound change in input.”
You’ll talk to your grandkids about these as profound changes.
CEO’s leave mark on company strategy and culture: What’s the Tim Cook mark?
"Apple is this unique company and unique culture that you can’t replicate. I’m not going witness or permit the slow undoing of it. Steve grilled in all of us over many years that the company should revolve around great products and that we should stay extremely focused on few things rather than trying to do so many that we did nothing well. We should only go into markets where we can make a significant contribution to society, not just sell a lot of product. These are the things I focus on because those are the things that make Apple a magical place that make people want to do their life’s best work.
"We’re always focused on the future. We don’t sit and think about how wonderful things were yesterday."
FBI Releases Its Steve Jobs File
Steve Jobs did drugs and sometimes he wasn’t completely honest.
No I’m not recapping his biography... I’m recapping his FBI file.
Wired says the U.S. government released the Apple cofounder’s FBI file (.pdf) Thursday, which included details of a background check done for a potential presidential appointment in 1991 and a bomb threat against Jobs in ‘85.
It turns out he had a top secret government security clearance while working at Pixar, which I assume had to do with the original purposes to which the Pixar computers were put, not the intricacies of “A Bug’s Life.”
Facts in the background check are really old news now, though might have been a bit more revelatory at the time. Back in ’91 Bush-the-elder was thinking of appointing Jobs to the president’s Export Council. Interviews with friends detailed his use of drugs as well as the belief by some of his friends that he would "twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals."
They didn’t think any of that should keep him from getting the appointment though, which he did.
Wired and other media outlets obtained the file through a Freedom of Information Act request following Jobs’ death last year.
From the "Little Bird" File...
Image from the Flickr stream of Lifelive
Sometimes I feel a bit like Snow White. Secret word is issued from on high and little birds fly messages my way, for which I'm very grateful.
A few people wrote to let me know that Apple had issued a couple of proclamations for developers in the iTunes Connect program.
Required iPhone & iPod touch Screenshot Upgrade for Retina Display
When you create or update your apps in iTunes Connect, you must upload screenshots that are high-resolution. We require your screenshots as high-resolution images so that your app is optimized for the Retina display.
The requirements for high-resolution images are 960 x 640, 960 x 600, 640 x 960, or 640 x 920 pixels. Images must be at least 72 dpi, in the RGB color space, and the file must be .jpeg, .jpg, .tif, .tiff, or .png. You can update your screenshot files at any time in iTunes Connect.
New Notification for Binaries Exceeding Cellular Network Download Size Limit
Admin and Technical users will now be notified if your resulting binary size for the App Store exceeds the cellular network download size limit of 20MB. Exceeding the limit requires your app to be downloaded over Wi-Fi. This information can help you determine if you want to resubmit your binary in order to reduce the size of your app.
Regards,
The App Store team
A couple of pages from the Isaacson biography of Jobs
As attention turns to Apple's education event in New York City on 19 January 2012, I though it might be worth looking again at what Apple cofounder Steve Jobs had to say on the subject last year.
The Creepy Action-Figure and the Steve Jobs Toaster
It’s looking like you will be able to get the creepy Steve Jobs action figure. At least it should be legal for you to do so.
The website PaidContent.org says Apple’s lawyers may be bluffing with their cease and desist letter against “In Icons,” the Hong-Kong company that plans to start selling the far too realistic, 12", $99 Steve Jobs action figure next month.
Quoting the piece, “While people can indeed own rights to their likeness, those rights usually apply only to living people. Unlike other forms of intellectual property like patents or copyrights, image rights do not survive beyond the grave in most places.
“Under American law,” the piece continues, “so-called ‘personality rights’ exist only at the state level—there is no federal law. And only about a dozen states recognize image rights after death.”
By Paid Content’s reckoning, the creepy-as-all-get-out action figure will not be available legally in California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, or Washington. So if you live in one of those states, maybe ask a relative to pick one up for you. Or ask them for one next Christmas.
On second thought, don’t. Not sure if I’ve mentioned it but... these things are kind of creepy.
Perhaps the biggest bombshell though, Paid Content says Apple “may not even be able to stop others from using the name Steve Jobs as, surprisingly, the term does not appear on the company’s long list of registered trademarks.”
Boys and girls, we’re going to a dark place now. Not so dark, but... shadowed let’s say. Around the time the Spike Lee movie “Malcom X” came out (nearly 20 years ago) stuff with “X” started popping up all over the place. One day I was in a neighborhood market in Boston and I saw this big, cardboard holder of air fresheners - black with grey “Xs” on them - with the advertising line at the top of the board, “Eradicate Odors by Any Means Necessary.”
We could make a mint putting Steve Jobs name on stuff! Come to think of it, we could make MINTS! Steve Jobs Air Fresheners! Steve Jobs Mouthwash! Steve Jobs Deodorant! And all of it Insanely Great!
Steve Jobs Insanely Great Flea Collar!
Insanely Great Tooth Brush!
Insanely Great Coffee Filter!
And the best best part is... "It just works!" All of it.
The Steve Jobs Insanely Great Pack-of-Six Clothes Hangers!
"It Just Works!"
Coming soon to a 99-cent store near you.
What has Sir Ive so angry?
I may be late to this, but in perusing Apple's Executive Bios page, I'm struck by how much one of these things is not like the others.
Waiting for the Whistle: Microsoft, Nokia, and AT&T
Image from the Flickr stream of Giorgio Montersino
If Paul Thurrott is correct... I am angry. Not because he’s right, I don’t know the guy and have no opinion on him. No, if he’s right... I’m angry about what he’s right about. Electronista has the Windows-focused writer citing secret sources who say plans between AT&T, Microsoft and Nokia, which is practically a mobile-phone division of Microsoft at this point, will pay store staffers to recommend Windows Phones. If his sources are correct, AT&T retail workers will get a bounty of between $10 and $15 per phone depending on the number they’re able to move. You know when I quit going to Circuit City? When their commissioned employees made it nearly impossible to examine products in peace and at my own pace. Additionally, while I’m not an expert, I know a little bit about Apple’s offering through AT&T thanks to what I do every day. And yet, with that familiarity, I’ve had transactions screwed up at AT&T retail stores thanks to the ignorance of an AT&T retail associate. I’m not saying everyone who works at AT&T retail is ignorant of every offer out there. There are a lot of offers with which they have to keep up. And I’m sure there are at least as many stories of retail workers at Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile not knowing as much as they should as there are stories of ill-informed stormtroopers on the Death Star. But it was better when ignorance was your only enemy. If the person with whom I have to deal in the retail space has $10 to $15 riding on which phone I choose, how likely do you think he or she is to wonder what phone is really going to be right for me? Now flash ahead three to six months when we find Microsoft and Nokia trumpeting the AMAZING popularity of it’s phones through AT&T, leaving off the bit about how much they're paying people to pimp those phones specifically. I shouldn’t be so bothered. I’m just anticipating noise. Like when you see someone hand a kid a whistle. And before that kid even puts it to their lips you’re already thinking, “why did anyone ever give that kid a whistle?” Commission-based selling is nothing new. I’ve even done a tiny bit of it myself years ago (in as gentle a way as possible and only for products in which I truly believed). And I don’t begrudge the ability of AT&T’s stormtroopers to make an extra buck or two. I’m just not looking forward to the piercing-whistle that’s bound to accompany any gain made by Nokrosoft. Again, assuming Paul Thurrott is correct.
Amazon Says It Sold Enough Copies of Steve Jobs Bio to Create a Stack Taller than Mt. Everest (No Plans to Do So)
Image: Apple Insider
One more accolade - of sorts - for Apple’s fallen cofounder...
Amazon has put together it’s end-of-year list of purchase wackiness.
What has this to do with Steve Jobs?
Business Insider has the all-things-to-everyone seller saying that "Amazon customers purchased enough copies of Walter Isaacson’s “Steve Jobs” book to create a stack taller than Mt. Everest."
I think we should try it. Now run, run away.
Apple Promotes The Beatles on iTunes (a Year After Bringing The Beatles to iTunes)
Not sure why they waited a year to put this ad together, but it is failry trippy. Here's the YouTube link. Ahimsa.
Mac OS Ken: Live - The Shopping List
We had a lot of people call in to the "non-tech gifts for techies" editon ot Mac OS Ken: Live on 11.30.2011. Here now, the list with prices and links.
Oscar is a big fan of the BookBook cases for the iPhone ($59.99) and MacBook Air ($79.99) from 12South.
Tracy likes the neXplug 30-Pin Dock Connector Extension Cable ($16.99 on Amazon).
She's also a fan of the Ristretto for iPad and iPad 2 Messenger Bag by Tom Bihn ($110.00)
Walter wishes everyone an Apple TV ($99.00 from Apple)
He also like the conveniece of the 10 Watt iPad USB Charger since it'll charge other things too ($29.00 from Apple)
And finally, he's enjoying fitness on his wrist with UP by Jawbone ($99.00)
All the first David of the evening wants is iTunes Gift Cards (sure Apple sells them but you can get them anywhere)
Our man George is a fan of the KickStarter iPad Stand PadPivot ($39.99 at Best Buy)
He also likes being able to pack his various cables for various prices with Grid-It from Cocoon Innovations
Our second David of the show thinks we should all secretly install the Time Capsule from Apple in the homes of all of our parents to make the inevitable calls for tech-help easier.
He also like the PlugBug from twelve south, which lets users charge two USB devices with one charger ($34.99)
And finally, for posters, T-shirts, mugs and more, David likes shopping TheOatmeal.com
Patrick - a self professed audiophile - likes the Klipsh Image S4 In-Ear Headphones ($79.99)
He also likes the Mosnter iClarityHD Precision Micro Bluetooth Speaker ($119.95)
Sticking with the speaker thing, Nicolai says "Yipee" for the Wowee One Classic Portable Speakers ($79.99)
Finally, I had three picks. First, the Stand Up 2 Cancer Star Wars Shirts ($24.95)
A listener wrote to me about his product - The Grablet. It’s a handle, holder, and hanger for your iPad and iPad 2! ($39.99)
And finally, Mophie has put out a few (RED) Products to help fight HIV and AIDS in Africa. Power for a powerful cause.
Happy shopping.
Mac OS Ken: Live - The Shopping List
We had a lot of people call in to the "non-tech gifts for techies" editon ot Mac OS Ken: Live on 11.30.2011. Here now, the list with prices and links.
Oscar is a big fan of the BookBook cases for the iPhone ($59.99) and MacBook Air ($79.99) from 12South.
Tracy likes the neXplug 30-Pin Dock Connector Extension Cable ($16.99 on Amazon).
She's also a fan of the Ristretto for iPad and iPad 2 Messenger Bag by Tom Bihn ($110.00)
Walter wishes everyone an Apple TV ($99.00 from Apple)
Mac OS Ken: Live - The Shopping List
We had a lot of people call in to the "non-tech gifts for techies" editon ot Mac OS Ken: Live on 11.30.2011. Here now, the list with prices and links.
Oscar is a big fan of the BookBook cases for the iPhone ($59.99) and MacBook Air ($79.99) from 12South.
Tracy likes the neXplug 30-Pin Dock Connector Extension Cable ($16.99 on Amazon).
Ron Johnson: What I Learned Building the Apple Store
I found this picture on MacStories. I have no idea where they found it.
It reads like half manifesto, and half self-defense. Writing for the Harvard Business Review, former Apple Retail chief and new CEO of JC Penney Ron Johnson outlines what he sees as the challenge for anyone in retail. And he doesn’t think it’s all about the product.
One of the most common comments I heard was that the Apple Store succeeded because it carried Apple products and catered to the brand's famously passionate customers. Well, yes, Apple products do pull people into stores. But you don't need to stock iPads to create an irresistible retail environment. You have to create a store that's more than a store to people.
If it was just about product, he points out, people would buy Apple kit at Walmart, Best Buy, or Target, each of which usually sells the products they have in common with Apple Retail stores at a discount. And if everyone did that, Apple Retail wouldn't be the success that it is.
Johnson says, “retailers shouldn't be asking, ‘How do we create a store that's going to do $15 million a year?’ They should be asking, ‘How do we reinvent the store to enrich our customers' lives?’”
So how’s he plan to do that with JC Penney? Not surprisingly he doesn’t say, though even if he did it wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone else.
There isn't one solution. Each retailer will need to find its own unique formula. But I can say with confidence that the retailers that win the future are the ones that start from scratch and figure out how to create fundamentally new types of value for customers.
(Read the full Johnson here.)