More on iOS Management ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Erica Sadun at TUAW:

We don’t know what Apple’s event will cover, but this kind of large-scale deployment sets a bar that Apple needs to meet – soon if not next week. At TUAW, we believe that winning the classroom will win the tablet. If Apple cannot respond to Whispercast, they cannot win that classroom.

Apple’s enterprise tools for iOS and support for mobile device management have advantages for big organizations, but the textbook (and app) volume purchasing setup doesn’t have quite the fluidity of what Whispercast will deliver. MDM at a basic level is doable with Apple’s Mountain Lion Server, but larger deployments may require extensive IT support and investment, which most schools don’t have at their disposal. In contrast, Whispercast is cloud-based and free. (There are several cloud-based MDM options for iOS, to be sure, with Meraki, Zenprise and MaaS360 among them, but they aren’t free.)

Smaller iPad Aimed at Education ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Adam Satariano at Bloomberg:

For districts around the country, though, it’s the price as much as the cool quotient that could draw them to a new, smaller version of the iPad that Apple will unveil tomorrow at an event in San Jose, California. Apple has long been a leader in education, and schools began embracing the iPad soon after its 2010 debut. Yet as fiscal budget shortfalls crimp spending all the more, schools in growing numbers are warming to the handheld devices as an alternative to more expensive laptops.

While I think a smaller, cheaper iPad will draw educators in, Apple needs to do some serious work on its iOS management tools.

On iTunes UI Elements and OS X ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Daniel Eran Dilger:

Over the past five years, Apple has introduced a wide variety of new iOS features that have percolated their way “back to the Mac,” as well as having introduced OS X features that have later shown up in its mobile devices. However, Apple’s own first party apps, and in particular iTunes, have also served as harbingers of new user interface directions.

I suppose we should welcome our new iOS-like overlords.

On iCloud Sharing ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Dan Moren:

It’s clear that Apple’s launch of iCloud has the classic idea of a filesystem squarely in its crosshairs. In the future, you’ll no longer have to create a complicated hierarchy of folders, to maintain multiple versions of the same file, or even to remember where your file is stored.

From Apple’s perspective, this is all about making things easier for the user. You no longer have to remember where you put a file on a disk; instead, all you have to remember is the app you used to create or edit it. After all, it’s easier to remember that you were editing an image in Preview than that you saved it seven folders deep on your hard drive. I’ve certainly found myself relying more and more on the Open Recent menu option in apps that have it.

Tying files to apps has its advantages, to be sure. But Apple’s way of implementing has a cost: Sharing files between applications is more difficult and unwieldy now than it was before.

I have exactly two Keynote documents in iCloud. I often share them when I’m out and about in meetings, so it’s nice have them on my iPad. Past that, I find iCloud to be way to restrictive for my tastes.

Apple Loses Appeal in UK ⇢

⌘ Permalink

Eric Slivka:

Back in early July, a UK court ruled that Samsung had not infringed upon the design of the iPad with its own Galaxy Tab device, with judge Colin Birss ruling that the Galaxy Tab was simply “not as cool” as the iPad. Roughly a week later, Birss ruled that Apple must publish advertisements on its website and in newspapers acknowledging that Samsung did not copy the iPad’s design.

Apple quickly appealed the ruling and was granted a stay until that appeal could be heard.

[…]

The appeals judges ruled that Apple could satisfy the posting requirement for its own website by including a small link entitled “Samsung/Apple judgement” on the site for a period of one month.

That July ruling sure seemed like a joke. Glad that the appeals court ruled something a little less juvenile.