Tag Archives: apple

Surprisingly Opera Mini now on the App Store

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We had rumors of Opera Mini landing up on the App Store and then confirmations too. The biggest question was, will Apple ever approve a app which would give direct competition to the default web browser that comes loaded with the device, Safari?

The terms and conditions also favored the chances of the Opera app being dropped from the app store but surprisingly, it’s there to make web browsing faster six times compared to the primeval browsing app on the iPhone.

The Data Compression technologies compress data by upto 90% and this speeds up the time taken to render each page.

“We are delighted to offer iPhone and iPod touch users a great browsing experience with the Opera Mini App,” said Lars Boilesen, CEO, Opera Software. “This app is another step toward Opera’s goal of bringing the Web to more people in more places.”

For Opera it’s celebration time as they get to serve a huge audience which were eagerly awaiting a product to rejuvenate their current browser but the only confounding thing over here is that, do Apple’s term only apply to competitive brands only and not others? Reason for making the statement is lucid, Apple states in it’s policies that Apps which duplicate any existing iPhone function will not be approved but what you see here is contrasting.

Apple to drop support for iPhone 2g?

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Steve Jobs randomly picks up emails to reply to and now it’s just turning out to be some mediocre stuff. This time it’s about the iPhone 2g. A customer asked if they were going to provide further support for the antique ancient iPhone 2g.

Steve promptly replied,

Sorry, No.

It’s quite obvious that as new technology keeps getting supplemented it is necessary to clear the desk off the old products as it become difficult for the company to make the new software work on the old hardware and also because they need to sell of the new products too.

This was also made quite clear when Apple stated the OS 4.0′s features won’t be completely supported by iPhone 3g and iPod Touch 2g.

[Via MacStories]

Tech Paparazzi : Steve Jobs and Eric Schimdt spotted together

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Gizmodo, reported pictures of two of the most prominent people from worlds largest tech arsenals, Steve Jobs and Eric Schimdt seated together at Calafia in the Town and Country shopping center in Palo Alto. The Cafe where they were spotted is owned by ex-Google chef Charlie Ayers.

Two lines overheard by the photographer,

They’re going to see it all eventually so who cares how they get it

He alsoclaimed that these talks revolved around web content. This could possibly have some relation with the recent news of Apple’s route into the Mobile Advertising Business, but then both come from companies [Steve - Apple CEO and Eric - Google CEO] who’s relations have been deteriorating abominably so what could be the core matter of the talk?

Folks at Gizmodo did a complete analysis of their body posture (wow, you seriously need that?) and it finally lands onto the fact that, Eric Schimdt is scared of Steve Jobs!

Mobile Advertising to be reincarnated with Apple’s iAd?

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If the next big thing is, it’s got to be Mobile Advertising. If analysis’s seem correct then it’s lucid that the Cell Phone markets, especially the smartphone markets in terms of browsing and downloading content have grown 10 folds in the past 3 years.

Apple too has contributed to the growth of the market immensely with the so called “revolutionary product”, the iPhone. Along with the iPhone came the App Store which has also played crucial role in promoting Application sales and the growth of the market and it now holds more than 150,000 apps. This created opportunities for advertisers to boast their products but till now there wasn’t a proposed model for it, all ideas sprinkled and few organizations using them.

Google acquired AdMob for a price of 750 Million Dollars to get into the Mobile advertising arena starting with a already powerful contender in the game. Followed by that we had the news hitting blogs, Apple had acquired Quattro Wireless for 300 Million Dollars which was also a tough challenger in the advertising market. Smells like growing fight, Google and Apple?

Steve Jobs brazenly once during a townhall meet with his companies employees, that they [Google] got into our [Apple] business of cell phones, we [Apple] did not get into their [Google] search business. Steve pointed out Google’s business strategies more or less could make Apple bankrupt if Google continued. What Now? Now it’s Apple’s turn and this time they decide to join in the advertising bandwagon and challenge the biggest contenders in the business, Google.

MediaPost wrote that Apple could be possible launching a new type of a Mobile Advertising Platform called “iAd” (signifies the i used in almost all major Apple products) and that this platform has been purely built upon the acquired platform, Quattro. The announcement of this platform will be coming up on 7th April, some four days after iPad starts shipping. Apple’s lined up all explosives, ha?

The platform will be unveiled at Madison Avenue (somewhat the heart of advertising industry), and invasion of Apple there, surely means direct shot at Google.  Apart from Mobile Advertising, i think Apple would be more interested in portable advertising which means, iPad is also included. Most companies fail to have their ideas spread and that is where they lose, but in this case Apple has already got a fair amount of means to propagate its platform with couple of millions of iPhone being used and iPod Touches, 150,000 and more apps and the iPad coming which already crossed 200,000 pre orders by now. These figures mean that Apple has got a hell lot of users there and reaching them won’t be difficult for them.

Almost all the top companies of the valley would be finding ways to get into the app store somehow or the other to advertise. Apple might be the one opening floodgates to them and prove to be another huge success.

First iPad Commercial on TV [Video]

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As we approach iPads official delivery date, April 3 Apple starts gearing up with it’s advertisements flooding everywhere including TV after the internet.

Apple never fails to deem its product as a “cool gadget” on TV as that’s what most non-techie’s call it. It looks nice, has multitouch and many applications. That’s what all the non-geeks know because that’s what Apple is showing in it’s ads.

History has proven that Apple rocks all the TV commercials, *cough* Apple has loads of Anti-Windows Commercials airing too *cough*, and Apple does it again.

Here’s a neat commercial which gives a flow of features available in the iPad (though it doesn’t tell you which features are missing which it should according to Consumer Rights) and teaches you how to position your iPad while using it :P Video after break.

When Opera Comes to iPhone : Six times faster internet browsing

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Guys, here’s the break. Opera Software ASA, the company which made the browser Opera recently revealed some news that they would be submitting their Browser App for iPhone for approval to the App Store in coming weeks.

If the App ever gets approved then users would be able to experience internet six times faster than the current speed offered by iPhone’s default internet browsing tool, Safari. At SXSW (South by Southwest interactive event) Opera Spokesperson, Thomas Ford gave a glance of the app which is in development to CNN.

Ford said that the App will be submitted for approval in few weeks. Now the biggest question, will Apple ever approve this App? We had a long discussion on this same issue when a rumor had just struck that Mozilla was also making a browser app for iPhone. Readers said that Apple won’t ever approve such an application because the story would end with Apple getting a new competitor for it’s default browser, Safari on it’s device itself. We also referred to the Apple’s submission guidelines which are in favor of the Cupertino Based Company and say that no app will be accepted if it duplicates iPhone’s existing function.

Opera Mini was publicized, a “lot” and seriously a “lot” for a unapproved app. When asked why, the company said this would force Apple to have no choice but to submit to the will of consumers and approve the app, which seems unlikely to happen especially after the iPad launch which left millions of potential consumers unsatisfied and maybe if you remember the Google Voice App Case too!

Opera argues that Mini and Safari are different, saying Opera Mini is quicker at downloading regular Internet pages while Safari’s design makes it more apt for more data-intensive functions, such as editing a Google document.

Opera’s process involves running Web pages through their servers, stripping away all but the most essential data so the pages load quickly.

If Apple disapproves this App, which i think it mostly will, it will end up losing another friend and having it join the alliance of the existing enemies and to name a few, Google and Adobe :P

90,000 iPads sold by Apple within first six hours

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Apple’s marketing campaigns, confidential games and rumor mill publicity payed off. Apple’s online store opened floodgates last nights allowing pre-orders and reservations for their iPads and what we had expected, did happen.

Despite people talking about the missing camera and multi-tasking, Apple sold well over 90,000 iPads in the first six hours of pre-orders which they will ship in April.

Investor Village’s AAPL Sanity Board have rolled out their own sales figures based on their calculations and estimates. They claim to have found out Apple’s sales figures, by putting down their order numbers on Google Spreadsheet. By 11:05 a.m. ET they had 15 confirmations with estimates as high as 74,000 products sold but we are not sure if these are just iPad sales or they start from 0 or not.

“51,000 orders in two hours,” announced Victor Castroll shortly after noon. He’s an analyst with Valcent Financial Group and an AAPL Sanity member who, with the blogger-analyst who calls himself deagol, has been monitoring the spreadsheet.

At 4:21 p.m E.T Victor shoots a update, “We’re at about 91k in six hours”. If this is true, then it’s Party time for Mr. Jobs. Frankly, the not-so-remarkable product had received just too much buzz and they did successfully capture as many as consumers in so less time, if the reports are found to be true.

We still strongly believe that this isn’t the success which a company would want, atleast not Apple. They would be concerned with User Satisfaction more (you can obviously say that looking at Apple’s Branding techniques) and so the real reports of Pass or Fail will be coming after the iPads are shipped and people have used them.

[Via Cnn Money]

One simple reason why Apple did not make iPad technologically fat [Myth Buster]

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Everyone’s frowning over Apple’s decision to not add camera, multitasking etc.. to the iPad. But you know there’s one man somewhere smiling, in the dark and the reason is because everything is going just as he wished.

It’s not a joke that humans more than the capabilities look over disabilities first but finally, whatever it is they have to accept it and if you ask me, then Apple has added a lot of features to the iPad and it has focused a lot on not what is currently existing but what is going to be there with you, in your hands in the future and you will desire for it.

If we fly back to 2001, when iPod was first released people said that it was called a big fat storage device for “fat” people to store their huge libraries. The first review from Slashgear also highlighted all the negative points about the iPod which convinced people quite well. Lastly, ask me who won? Selling over 240,000,000 pieces from 2001 till last month, Apple clearly did and they know quite well that they will.

If we see Apple’s iPad is the perfect for everything it does. iPad’s large screen size made it to be called as an oversized iPod by everyone, including me, said that but well it did take me sometime to realize it’s potential. a 9.7 inch is capable of doing things which you did earlier on other devices too, but there is something impressive and un-noticed about it unless you actually start using it. I have often desired the iPod and iPhone screens to be larger while i was watching videos and something less heavy and more portable than my laptop and television. Here’s where the iPad steps in. Guess what else? It does nearly most of what all the devices do, sort of.

iPhone and iPod touch OS being used on iPad was lamented all over by all experts as people wanted innovation. Well, iPhone OS itself was a innovation but it’s true that it has grown 3 years old but it’s always evolving. Amidst all this, one most not forget that whenever something new enters the market, you need to teach your consumers how to use it and the iPhone was as simple, a 12 year old kid or a 70 year old man could just unlock and start using it easily and i couldn’t have imagined for anything much simpler than this for the iPad. It’s a real smart move.

Next on the track. Where’s the camera? I know if i say that not adding a camera was a brilliant move by Apple, there will be people waiting to kill me. Wait, read the rest of this. When Steve Jobs introduced the iPad at the keynote he showed you a picture. He said that he wanted to introduce something, a new product line which was between the MacBook and the iPod, iPhones and not a replacement for the rest of the products. Get that right, it’s not a replacement.

That will surely answer all of your questions. Steve Jobs is a shrewd businessman. He knows what to sell, when and most importantly he knows what not to sell. Just imagine, if iPad had multitasking and a camera, people would think twice before going for a iPhone. Also the larger screen gives it a huge advantage over the iPod touch, so if it had additional features, would people buy iPod Touch’s?

If iPad had a OS somewhat similar to the MacBook’s and MAC OS X do you think the Mac sales will continue to be as they were? Obviously not. They would see some amount of sales drop and those people will be the one’s the buy iMacs.

What I have learnt from history, it shows that Apple always wants to sell most of it’s products to one customer at a time, like iPhone and Macs have real tight integration via iTunes and so does iPad. It’s like a family and without any member it cannot survive so Apple is trying to do something like that.

Apple is reknowned for the simplicity of it’s products and I have never seen any gadget made by Apple crammed with all features. The art of segregating is very well known by those at Apple and they know what is important for the product and not.

The last thing that i have always noticed is that Apple would not add anything to it’s army till it’s competitors force it to, like the Video Recording feature to the iPhone. It’s this simple game that Apple always plays and wins, either you accept it or not. Overall Apple is seriously a marketing genius!

Then there is this saying,

If your product is great, it doesn’t need to be good.