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Intel just showed off a glimpse of the future: Light Peak, an optical interconnect f...
According to an Engadget exclusive, Apple brought a new specification for optical port connection to Intel who, after some heated back and forth, has produced Light Peak:
Based on what we’ve learned, Apple will introduce the new standard for its systems around Fall 2010 in a line of Macs destined for back-to-school shoppers — a follow-up to the “Spotlight turns to notebooks” event, perhaps. Following the initial launch, there are plans to roll out a low-power variation in 2011, which could lead to more widespread adoption in handhelds and cellphones. The plans from October 2007 show a roadmap that includes Light Peak being introduced to the iPhone / iPod platform to serve as a gateway for multimedia and networking outputs. While the timing doesn’t line up, a low-powered Light Peak sounds like the kind of technology that would be perfect for a device with a need for broad connectivity but limited real estate for ports… like a tablet.
Can one port rule — and replace — them all? Do we want to kiss our USB/FireWire, VGA/DVI/DisplayPort, Ethernet, and all other connectors goodbye and replace them with a single, standardized optical cable? Check out Engadget’s full post for more, then let us know what you think.
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Apple Gets Intel to Create “Light Peak” Optical Connection — All Your Ports Has Belong to Us
Every week a few of us from team TiPb, bloggers and forum crew alike, will bring you our current favorite, funnest, most useful App Store apps, WebApps, jailbreak apps, even the occasional accessory, web site, or desktop app if the mood strikes us. As long as they’re iPhone (or iPod touch) related, they’re fair game.
So who’s on deck this week and what are our picks? Find out after the break!
Since picking up my Vibram FiveFingers shoes, I can’t use Nike+ so I needed a solid alternative. RunKeeper Pro really eliminates the need for anything else! It uses GPS to track your route, distance, speed, elevation and pace! You can create your own custom workouts and there is voice feedback too. When a workout is done, the information can be sent to their website and sent to Twitter or Facebook. I am very pleased with the product and the developer is promising new features! Checkout http://runkeeper.com! [$9.99 - iTunes link]
I am a big baseball fan, and a fan of math and stats – the two go hand in hand. Well, I recently saw a new baseball app put out by fangraphs. This cool little app gives you a graphical output of the win probability as the games are in progress, and adjusts it as events unfold. You can also see standard box scores, in-game events, and look up statistical information about any player in history (lots of cool stat,s including things like $ value and WAR). For any stats oriented baseball fan, I recommend taking a look at this! [$2.99 - iTunes link]
The Army of Darkness soundboard is a simple app but it is so damn cool for the hardcore Bruce Campbell fans out there. It’s just so “Groovy”… [Free - iTunes link]
From the creators of the Daily Burn app & Occipital’s RedLaser technology comes FoodScanner. If you have used DailyBurn before, then you should know that tracking the foods you eat can become tedious at times, especially when you can’t find just the right food to enter into your Food Log. FoodScanner simplifies the process by scanning the barcode on the food product. The barcode detection is incredibly accurate even for reflective surfaces. Highly recommended for anyone logging/tracking their food intake. Check out the full review for more. [$2.99 - iTunes link]
What a difference a year makes. Last year’s iPhone 3G and the debut App Store had no turn-by-turn navigation apps — the SDK didn’t even allow them! Now, with iPhone 3.x, as long as your BYOM (bring your own maps), turn-by-turn is good to go. And go it’s gone, with everyone from the biggest players in the game to upstart and open source contenders. But that makes choosing one really difficult. Based on Chris’ reviews so far, and on feature sets delivered, I decided to give NAVIGON MobileNavigator North America. And so far, so very good. Directions are precise, the text-to-speech for street names is understandable, and the app itself is highly usable. [$89.99 - iTunes link]
You’re part of team TiPb too, so what’s your pick? What app was your absolute fav last week? Let us — and everyone — know in the comments!
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Filed under: Multimedia, Video, Software Update, iPhone
The long awaited and much vilified AT&T MMS service was finally launched in the U.S. yesterday. I've scoured the Apple support boards, and it seems like it was pretty tame, with some reports of failure to get the update, failure to get the MMS functions after an update, late delivery of MMS messages, and so on.The AT&T MMS launch: How was it for you? A TUAW Poll originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
The AT&T MMS launch: How was it for you? A TUAW Poll originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Sat, 26 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Boy Genius is reporting that AT&T MMS seems to be down for some users in some states, and what’s more:
a quick call to AT&T’s customer care line revealed that there is a known latency issue with MMS in all states with no estimated time of repair.
So how about it? Are you experiencing any delays in sending or receiving MMS? Any outages? Either way, let us know where you are, and how long you’ve been having the problem.
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
AT&T MMS Network Outage Already?
I spent the wee hours of my Saturday morning in line for the grand opening of a new Apple Store. If you’ve never been to one, it’s an event.
The line starts early and by the time the store is almost ready to open, it snakes its way around the mall or down the street. Suddenly, the noise starts to build and build, and then Apple Store employees come racing around the corner or down the stairs, clapping and cheering and screaming. They run down the line, pumping fists and slapping hands, and it gets louder and louder. They form up in front of the store, bright colored shirts against wood, glass, and steel. Managers and specialists and concierges and geniuses all, they cheer for the crowd, and they scream for the crowd to bring that noise right back at them. Then they race away, the lights go out, the employees re-appear inside the store, and the doors open.
When line is released and it’s the crowd’s turn to run, into the store, grabbing one of the thousand free, location branded t-shirts they give away, and through the gauntlet of Apple Store employees who cheer and slap hands again, greeting every new customer.
So what’s the point? It’s an experience and a carefully, attentively crafted one — that’s the point. The Apple Store is meant to be an experience. Buying an iPhone — for which they now have new, dedicated activation centers in the store — is meant to be an experience. Opening the iPhone box likewise, turning it on, using it. Macs have welcome videos that play the first time you turn them on. Safari 4 has the same. It’s a wonder iPhones don’t as well (they do have fairly slick screen-savers that play while on display at the store).
It’s all about the customer — and the customer becoming a user — experience. Apple pours a lot of passion into crafting that experience (too much, sometimes, when the control of that experience alienates rather than empowers the user — but that’s often the price of unchecked passion).
They won’t do video on an iPhone 3G because the framerate is below their 30-FPS standards. They won’t put a camera in the iPod touch because VGA just isn’t good enough quality for a flagship device. Steve Jobs has said he and Apple are just as proud of the products they didn’t ship as the ones they did. He also said Apple makes the products they themselves want to own. And that’s the key. That’s the passion, and the focus on experience.
We just know Jony Ive prototyped the heck out of the iPhone hardware and packaging designs, and Scott Forstall and the software team, if not counting clicks, definitely counted on every tap, swipe, shake, and pinch to bring a smile to a new user’s face.
TechCrunch’s MG Siegler nailed it when he spoke of Apple’s enthusiasm. It’s easy to see everywhere from Jobs’ keynote product introductions to Apple Store employees in the ‘burbs.
It’s not just Apple’s great build quality and trend-setting user interface other companies are competing with — it’s Apple’s culture which is as passionate as it is (often maddeningly) secretive. That’s the culture that gets customers lining up for new store openings and new product releases, and makes the stores and products that they’re lining up for. And it’s not easy to maintain in large companies, which are often fragmented fiefdoms competing as much, or more, with themselves as they are with others.
How long Apple will be able to maintain that passion is anyone’s guess, and they certainly make their share of mistakes along the way (insert G4 Cube joke here), but for now, especially for iPhone lovers, they’re still firing on all cylinders.
(For anyone particularly interested in the the Apple Store opening I went to today — Fairview Pointe-Claire, just outside Montreal — I placed a few pictures up on Twitter).
This is a story by the iPhone Blog. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.
Apple and the Power of Passion
