Bored waiting for Apple’s iPhone announcement later today? Why not catch up on the original iTunes phone, the Motorola ROKR E1?
Year: 2012
Last Minute Predictions Concerning the iPhone 5
- It will be awesome.
- I will buy one.
Why Twitter’s Afraid of Clients
While I’m still not positive App.net will be successful long-term, it’s been fun to relive the early days of Twitter with this new service.
The service is evolving right before user’s eyes — just the other day, they added the ability to star a post — and the clients that are being built around the service are evolving, too.
I’m beta testing several apps, and have bought a couple from the App Store. They are all different. They have different control schemes, different UIs and different ways of posting, replying and re-posting. Some are blue, some are white and some are dark. Some have push notifications and some don’t. Some can publish photos and some can’t.
It’s like 2008 all over again.
In 2008, Apple opened up the iPhone to third-party apps with the release of iPhone OS 2 that summer. In those early days, there were many clients — Twitterrific being the best in those early days — that were awesome.
Today, it’s even better. I use Tweetbot on all three of my devices — iPad, iPhone and Mac. Once the Mac version comes out in the App Store, my custom mute filters and more will sync, wall-to-wall, giving me a type of platform on top of Twitter that I can fully control.
I keep the official client stashed in a folder on my iPhone just to keep tabs on what Twitter’s doing with it. I opened it the other evening to be bombarded with tweets including hashtags I had blocked in Tweetbot. It was jarring.
This, of course, is just what Twitter doesn’t want. Twitter wants everyone to experience the service they way they intend it, not a developer — no matter how great the third-party app or service might be. The reality is that Twitter just doesn’t like third-party clients — they are afraid of them. They are afraid that users will fall in love with a client and its services, and forget that Twitter is what’s underneath. That, coupled with the fact that currently third-party apps don’t pass along promoted tweets and other ads, is why Twitter is killing them off. Twitter’s doing it slowly, but have no doubt — it’s happening.
It’s a real shame. While the average user doesn’t care about this stuff, there are many users who do, and ADN might just benefit from their unhappiness with the way things are going.
The Verge Reviews the 7″ Kindle Fire HD →
Joshua Topolsky likes it as a content consumption device, but:
…there’s a second tablet in the review as well. One that gets compared to the iPad and Nexus 7. One that I expect to do more than just show me movies or help me shop. One that should be a companion for all kinds of things I want to do, that doesn’t feel limited, that doesn’t respond to my touches slowly, that doesn’t make me wait.
As that device, the Fire HD still has a long way to go. I think it can get there, but it isn’t there yet.
The biggest thing I walked away from this review was how much I like the back of the Fire HD.
‘A Lemon In It’ →
This week on the 512 Podcast, I enjoy a milkshake while Myke drinks fruity water. We talk about Amazon’s new Kindles and last-minute rumors concerning the next iPhone.
This week’s show is made possible by Squarespace and Shutterstock.
RSS Sponsor: muvichip →
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A Secret Hot Tub →
Well, this wins for “Awesome Reddit Link of the Day” in my book.
A Kindle At Every Price
In preparing for tomorrow’s podcast, I decided to type up a list of Amazon’s pricing for the Kindles. Here’s the complete list:
- $69 – Kindle with Special Offers
- $89 – Kindle without Special Offers
- $119 – Kindle Paperwhite with Special Offers
- $139 – Kindle Paperwhite without Special Offers
- $139 – Kindle with Keyboard 3G with Special Offers
- $159 – Kindle with Keyboard 3G without Special Offers
- $159 – 7” Kindle Fire, 8 GB with Special Offers
- $174 – 7” Kindle Fire, 8 GB without Special Offers
- $179 – Kindle Paperwhite 3G with Special Offers
- $199 – Kindle Paperwhite 3G without Special Offers
- $199 – 7” Kindle Fire HD, 16 GB with Special Offers
- $214 – 7” Kindle Fire HD, 16 GB without Special Offers
- $249 – 7” Kindle Fire HD, 32 GB with Special Offers
- $264 – 7” Kindle Fire HD, 32 GB without Special Offers
- $299 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD, 16 GB with Special Offers
- $314 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD, 16 GB without Special Offers
- $369 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD, 32 GB with Special Offers
- $383 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD, 32 GB without Special Offers
- $499 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD 4G, 32 GB with Special Offers
- $514 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD 4G, 32 GB without Special Offers
- $599 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD 4G, 64 GB with Special Offers
- $614 – 8.9” Kindle Fire HD 4G, 64 GB without Special Offers
At almost any price point you can imagine between $70 and $700, there’s a Kindle. While that’s obviously Amazon’s goal, it makes for an extremely confusing product matrix.
Unlike this:
Ok, so maybe comparing Amazon’s price list for the Kindle family to Apple’s old quadrant of products was a little unfair. Here’s what iOS devices are for sale at the moment:
- $0 – iPhone 3GS, 8 GB (on contract)
- $99 – iPhone 4, 8 GB (on contract)
- $199 – iPod touch, 8 GB
- $199 – iPhone 4S, 16 GB (on contract)
- $299 – iPod touch, 32 GB
- $299 – iPhone 4S, 32 GB (on contract)
- $375 – iPhone 3GS, 8 GB (unlocked)
- $399 – iPod touch, 64 GB
- $399 – iPhone 4S, 64 GB (on contract)
- $399 – iPad 2, 16 GB
- $499 – iPad 3, 16 GB
- $529 – iPad 2 3G, 16 GB
- $549 – iPhone 4, 8 GB (unlocked)
- $599 – iPad 3, 32 GB
- $629 – iPad 3 4G, 16 GB
- $649 – iPhone 4S, 16 GB (unlocked)
- $699 – iPad 3, 64 GB
- $729 – iPad 3 4G, 32 GB
- $749 – iPhone 4S, 32 GB (unlocked)
- $829 – iPad 3 4G, 64 GB
- $849 – iPhone 4S, 64 GB (unlocked)
Yes, Apple does offer each of the above items in black and white, making the total number of SKUs higher than Amazon’s, but the former has more price points than the latter, which is what my original comparisons was all about.
Anonymous Takes Down GoDaddy →
GoDaddy went down faster than an elephant poached in the wee hours of the morning.
T-Mobile Steps Up ‘Bring Your Own iPhone’ Program →
Suzanne Lowry, vice president of marketing at T-Mobile:
T-Mobile has been a champion of “bring your own device” wireless with our affordable Value plans that separate the cost of wireless service from the purchase of a new phone. This means there are a lot of devices running on our network that we don’t sell in our stores, including more than 1M iPhones. We see a big opportunity to make the experience of bringing an unlocked iPhone to T-Mobile even better for customers.
That’s why, beginning September 12th, we’re stepping up our efforts to attract customers with unlocked iPhones to T-Mobile. Each of our branded retail stores will receive an iPhone 4s demo unit and our sales staff will start training to help customers set up their compatible iPhone. We’re also developing iOS versions of helpful T-Mobile applications like T-Mobile myAccount, T-Mobile Visual Voicemail and T-Mobile TV (we already offer an iOS version of our popular Bobsled application). Finally, we’ll begin testing incentive offers in select markets and (in all markets) marketing the benefits of bringing an unlocked iPhone to T-Mobile
I guess they aren’t getting the iPhone 5.
NBC Blows It When Explaining UDIDs →
Kerry Sanders and Bob Sullivan, NBC News:
The UDID – which stands for Unique Device Identifier – is present on Apple iPads, iPods and iPhones, and is similar to a serial number. During the past year, researchers have found that many app developers have used the UDID to help keep track of their users, storing the data in various databases and often associating it with other personal information. When matched with other information, the UDID can be used to track users’ app usage, social media usage or location. It could also be used to “push” potentially dangerous applications onto users’ Apple gadgets.
There is debate about how dangerous the release of the UDID data is without the other information. [Paul DeHart, CEO of the Blue Toad publishing company] said he knew of no practical malicious use for the leaked data.
“Honestly, the UDID information by itself isn’t harmful, as far as we know,” he said. “I can’t say anything is impossible, but the reality is, to push notifications to a device, you need certain keys, certain Apple credentials. You have to have a developer’s account with Apple. So there are lots of processes in place, measures to keep the average ‘anybody’ from being able to take UDIDs and begin doing something with that information.”
You can’t push apps to an iPhone with just an UDID. Way to go, guys.
The Macalope: Who writes this stuff? →
It’s a little sad that those of us trying to do a good job can’t write full time, when morons like the ones listed in this article are probably raking it in.
Sigh.